A Russian military officer recently said the country is concerned that the proposed U.S. missile defense plans are now a threat to Russia, leading to a slowdown in arms control talks between the two nations.

"We view it very negatively, because it could weaken our missile forces," said Gen. Nikolai Makarov, Russian senior officer, during an interview.  "The development of missile defense is aimed against the Russian Federation."

The U.S. government has denied all reports of potential friction between the U.S. and Russia, with President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev declining to speak of missile defense plans.

"I think the notion that somehow this is in any way an impediment to what's going on with START is -- is simply -- it's simply not true," said White House spokesperson Robert Gibbs during a recent press conference.  "It certainly wasn't what President Medvedev told President Obama."

The START nuclear arms reduction pact, a Cold War era agreement between the United States and former Soviet Union, expired in December with the two countries now trying to figure out how to move forward.  President Obama won't use Poland and the Czech Republic as hosts for missile shield locations, but will instead use missile interceptors over land and sea.

Obama plans to have a missile defense system in place that is able to intercept warheads fired from North Korea, Iran and other "rogue states," not Russia.  Until both sides are able to reach an official agreement regarding the new missile shield, tensions could remain high.