Moscow  - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has welcomed the US decision to cancel a controversial missile shield system in Eastern Europe, but said more steps were needed to improve relations, the Interfax news agency reported Friday.

Putin called US President Obama's decision to cancel plans to place interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar system in the Czech Republic - both of which had angered Moscow - a "courageous step."

However the premier said that "now we expect the US to lift trade barriers, so that our two countries can cooperate in the high- technology sector."

Putin said it was "sad" that such relics of the Cold War still existed.

On Friday, Russia said that it would no longer seek to station its Iskander rocket system near the Polish border, as it had threatened to do if the US plan had gone ahead.(dpa)