Comments come after Russia's announcement last week of plans to deploy missiles in Eastern Europe

Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, today urged the US and Russia to shelve their missile plans ahead of a European security conference next year.

Medvedev announced last week that Moscow would deploy missiles in its western outpost of Kaliningrad in response to US plans for an anti-missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic - hours after Barack Obama won the American presidential election.

Medvedev said the deployment was necessary to "neutralise" interceptor missiles and a radar station that the US wanted to put in Poland and the Czech Republic, although he has since scaled back the threat.

Sarkozy, speaking after an EU-Russia summit in Nice, said he voiced concerns about the Kremlin's threat to deploy missiles in an enclave near Poland.

"I indicated to President Medvedev how concerned we were about this declaration and how there should be no deployment in any enclave until we have discussed new geopolitical conditions for pan-European security," Sarkozy said.

The French leader also criticised the Bush administration.

"Between now and then, don't talk about deployment of a missile shield, which does nothing to bring security and complicates things," he said referring to US plans to deploy an anti-missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic.

Sarkozy, who holds the rotating presidency of the EU, said he had proposed holding a conference in the middle of next year to "lay down the foundation for what could be the future of European security".

The Nice summit came after EU states agreed on Monday to relaunch talks on a broad partnership pact frozen after Russia's military incursion into Georgia. The two sides still have still to set a date for this.

Sarkozy said Russia had largely complied with a French-brokered ceasefire in Georgia, but still needed to withdraw its troops from Georgia's two breakaway provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Acknowledging reservations among some EU states about restarting talks with Russia, Sarkozy said it was in the mutual interest of Russia and Europe to talk to each other.

"We do not need extra conflicts ... more division, more wars, we need unity," he said.

The EU has taken a pragmatic course in its relations with Russia as Moscow is a leading supplier of oil and gas to Europe. Russia also has interest in mending ties with the EU as the global financial crisis has exposed its economic vulnerabilities. Russia, which depends heavily on oil revenues, has been hit by the steep decline in oil prices

After the summit Sarkozy and Medvedev were to fly directly to Washington to join the G20 meeting of top economies on the global financial crisis. Sarkozy said the Russian and EU positions on the international financial system were very close.