US, Russia seek progress over missile shield
Foreign Desk Report

MOSCOW—Russia’s president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, struck a conciliatory note on Monday at the start of talks with visiting U.S. officials by saying there was a common will to solve problems between Moscow and Washington.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates were beginning their first meeting with Medvedev since he won a landslide election victory earlier this month.
“There are issues where we still have differences in positions, that is missile defense and START (a nuclear arms treaty), but we also have a common will and commitment to move ahead,” Medvedev said.
He was referring to rows over U.S. plans to base parts of a missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, moves which Russia says threaten its security, and to U.S. resistance to a successor to the Cold War-era START treaty limiting long-range nuclear weapons.
“We must create the basis for the continuity of Russian- American relations in future. We have everything we need to achieve that,” Medvedev added. Earlier, Rice said she hoped her talks in Moscow would set a positive tone for relations with Medvedev and ease differences over the missile defense shield.
But Russian media quoted officials in Moscow as saying progress would only be possible on the shield if the visitors brought new proposals from Washington — something Gates has said he is not doing.
Rice and Gates will also meet their Russian counterparts and outgoing President Vladimir Putin, who leaves the Kremlin on May 7 and has said he will then become prime minister. Washington says the missile shield system is designed to protect against attacks from what it calls rogue states, and specifically Iran. Moscow strongly opposes the system and says it could be directed at Russia.
The dispute has helped push diplomatic relations between the United States and Russia to a post-Cold War low, although economic cooperation and trade have not been affected. Trade between the two countries totaled $17.5 billion last year, up from $15 billion in 2006, and U.S. companies have been investing heavily in Russia.
Rice said the two sides might not agree on all elements of the shield plan, but she hoped they could cooperate and find a common understanding of the threat of attacks. Gates told reporters as he flew to Russia that he expected Moscow to respond to earlier U.S. proposals to ease the dispute, including one offering Russia access to missile shield sites.
“We’ve put a lot on the table and now it’s time for them to reciprocate,” Gates said. “At some point the Russians are going to have to decide whether they want to be true partners, which we are offering, or whether this is just all a sham game on their part to stall the whole deal.”
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed source in the Russian Defense Ministry as saying progress was possible only if Rice and Gates “bring with them new proposals that take into account Moscow’s concerns.”
A Kremlin spokesman declined comment in advance of the meetings. The two sides will also discuss what will replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expires in 2009. The pact, signed in Moscow in 1991, is a cornerstone of post- Cold War security and set ceilings on the size of the Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals.
Russia is seeking agreement on renewing the deal. Although Washington has previously said this is not necessary, Rice indicated a softening in that position. “I don’t think we have objections to a formal agreement. The more important question is what is it that we will be formalizing,” said Rice.