Russian President Vladimir Putin's surprise suggestion to the United States on missile defense shield cooperation is positive, German Foreign Ministry Spokesman Jens Ploetner said on Friday.

"We view this as a positive, a constructive signal in the dialogue that could lead to an easing of tension," said Ploetner.

Putin offered on Thursday the suggestion to his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush at a private meeting on the sideline of the Group of Eight (G8) summit of leading industrial nations in Germany's Baltic resort of Heiligendamm.

Putin has strongly criticized the U.S. plans to deploy anti- ballistic missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic.

He proposed that the United States jointly use with Russia the Gabala radar base in Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic.

Bush described the proposal as "interesting" and said the two sides had formed a working group of experts to see how they could cooperate on missile defense.

Ploetner would not make hasty judgements on the proposal until it had been examined thoroughly by the U.S. side.

Bush are currently visiting Poland after the G8 summit to discuss the controversial missile plan with Polish President Lech Kaczynski.

Source: Xinhua