MOSCOW: Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday U.S. President Barack Obama appeared not to have told the truth in 2009 comments about the need for a planned missile shield in Europe should a nuclear deal be reached with Iran.

Sergei Lavrov was quoted in the transcript of an interview with Channel News Asia on the foreign ministry's website as saying in English: "President Obama in 2009 publicly said that if the Iranian nuclear issue is resolved, there would be no need for missile defence in Europe. It seems that he was not telling the truth."

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska; Editing by Jason Bush and Catherine Evans)