June 10 (Bloomberg) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin said the U.S. should ``hurry'' to make a decision on his proposal to share a European missile shield.

Russia's offer to deploy a radar warning and control system in the former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan, a neighbor of Iran, is ``the best of all solutions,'' Putin said in an interview at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.

``The U.S. should accept my proposal,'' the Russian president said today, speaking in German. ``They have to hurry up with their decision, I'm not giving them much time.'' A spokeswoman for the U.S. Embassy in Moscow couldn't be reached for comment immediately.

Putin, nine months from leaving office, made the offer to President George W. Bush at the Group of Eight Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany, on June 7. The Russian proposal counters a U.S. plan to build missile-shield facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic. The U.S. says it needs the anti-missile system to protect Europe from attacks by ``rogue states'' such as Iran.

Putin's comments today were ``a reaction to the rather cool response in Washington to his Azerbaijan proposal,'' said Yevgeny Volk, a political analyst in Moscow with the Heritage Foundation, by telephone.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said June 8 that the U.S. would ``take a look'' at the Russian proposal.

`Geometry and Geography'

``You have to have a sense of what the missile defense system is trying to do and the optimum places to provide interceptors, place radars,'' Rice said in comments posted on the State Department's Web site. ``It's geometry and geography on how you intercept a missile, not a political decision.''

``It's a win-win situation for Russia,'' said Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent military analyst in Moscow. ``If the U.S. accepts, it's a victory. If the U.S. rejects it, Russia calls them aggressive and imperialistic.''

Putin proposed using a Soviet-era radar facility in Gabala, Azerbaijan, which would be under the control of the U.S. and Russian militaries.

The U.S. ``may decide to invest in Gabala to lower Russian resistance to deployment in the Czech Republic and Poland,'' Felgenhauer said. ``But it can't be an alternative.''

The base doesn't provide radar coverage for all of Iran and is in range of the Islamic republic's short-range missiles, he said, so Putin's offer is ``militarily and technologically totally senseless.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Andreas Scholz in St. Petersburg agscholz@bloomberg.netTorrey Clark in Moscow at Tclark8@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: June 10, 2007 09:06 EDT