Yesterday at the G-20 summit in Los Cabos, Mexico, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that he doubted the US and Russia would reach agreement on US plans to deploy a missile defense system regardless of who is elected US president in November. . . the US and Russia for years have been at odds over Washington’s plans for a phased-in and limited capability to defend against ballistic missile attack from the Middle East. . . Russian military officials long have claimed the system also could be modified to degrade its offensive missile capabilities. . . in its planned configuration, the missile defense system, which has just reached its initial operating capabilities, would pose virtually no threat to Russian offensive forces which could easily overwhelm the limited number of missile interceptors planned for deployment in Europe.