Obama to Russia: Help Us And We'll Help You

Update: Obama clarifies letter, which he said was lengthy and talked about a range of issues. He said the missile defense is not directed toward Russia but Iran. He essentially says what I summed up below but I guess the letter (leaked?) was characterized as a quid quo pro:

Now that's diplomacy. Plus, it makes sense. The U.S. doesn't need to deploy a missile defense system in Eastern Europe if it can get stop Iran from building nukes.
I'm hoping the letter was meant to be exposed.

NYT: President Obama sent a secret letter to Russia’s president last month suggesting that he would back off deploying a new missile defense system in Eastern Europe if Moscow would help stop Iran from developing long-range weapons, American officials said Monday.

Moscow has not responded to the letter that was hand-delivered to President Dmitri A. Medvedev, above, three weeks ago.
The letter to President Dmitri A. Medvedev was hand-delivered in Moscow by top administration officials three weeks ago. It said the United States would not need to proceed with the interceptor system, which has been vehemently opposed by Russia since it was proposed by the Bush administration, if Iran halted any efforts to build nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

The officials who described the contents of the message requested anonymity because it has not been made public. While they said it did not offer a direct quid pro quo, the letter was intended to give Moscow an incentive to join the United States in a common front against Iran. Russia’s military, diplomatic and commercial ties to Tehran give it some influence there, but it has often resisted Washington’s hard line against Iran.

“It’s almost saying to them, put up or shut up,” said a senior administration official. “It’s not that the Russians get to say, ‘We’ll try and therefore you have to suspend.’ It says the threat has to go away.”

A mixed response from Russia:

“No one links these issues to any exchange, especially on the Iran issue,” Mr. Medvedev said at a news conference in Madrid, where he was visiting to boost economic and political ties. “We are working very closely with our U.S. colleagues on the issue of Iran’s nuclear program.”

He added, however, that Russia remained open to American proposals on the issue and said he was encouraged by signs from Mr. Obama’s administration.

“What we are getting from our U.S. partners shows at least one thing: Our U.S. partners are ready to discuss the issue,” he said. “It’s good, because several months ago we were getting different signals — that the decision has been made, there is nothing to speak about, that we have done everything as we have decided.”