President Dmitry Medvedev says the decision by the Obama administration to scrap plans for a missile defense system in Europe is a “responsible move.“ Medvedev made the comments on state TV Thursday just hours after President Barack Obama announced he was shelving the project, a major irritant between the two nations.

Israeli President Shimon Peres says that his Russian counterpart has promised to reconsider the planned delivery of top-range air defense missiles to Iran. Peres said Wednesday that the sale of the S-300 missiles would tilt a delicate balance of forces in the Middle East.

President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have signed what they call a “joint understanding” to negotiate a new arms control treaty that would set substantially lower levels of nuclear warheads for both countries.

South Korea says North Korea has fired a fourth missile off its eastern coast. The Joint Chiefs of Staff says three missiles were fired early Saturday and the fourth at about noon.

President Barack Obama says there is an avenue for peace for North Korea if Pyongyang works with other nations around the world to denuclearize the Korean peninsula.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is warning that North Korea will face consequences because of “provocative and belligerent” actions that include threatened military attacks against U.S. and South Korean warships.

A government official and a witness say missiles believed fired from a U.S. unmanned plane have killed seven people in northwestern Pakistan. The identities of those killed in the late Thursday strike in Kurram region were not immediately known.

Russia says it hopes President-elect Barack Obama will be more “farsighted” than the Bush administration about a controversial missile defense system in Europe.