Russia, US differ publicly on missile shield

Russia urged the United States to freeze its plans for a missile defence shield in eastern Europe yesterday after high-level talks failed to reach a compromise.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates said however, after meeting their Russian counterparts, that they would continue working to try to thrash out agreement on the shield plan which has soured US-Russian relations.

The two sides also clashed over Iran's nuclear programme. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said unilateral sanctions were hampering efforts to negotiate a solution, while Dr Rice fired back, saying Washington would continue financial sanctions.

The US officials said they had brought with them proposals for progress on missile defence. These included the possibility of Russians inspecting elements of the shield in Europe and the US.

Mr Lavrov, speaking at the same news conference with Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, Dr Rice and Mr Gates, said however there were problems and the proposals would require further work.

"We believe that to make the joint work of Russian and US experts most effective, plans on deploying the third positioning region (of the missile defence) should be frozen," Mr Lavrov said.

Mr Lavrov took a swipe at the US policy of imposing sanctions on Iran which go further than the punitive measures approved by the United Nations, and its stance that it will not rule out military action.

"We believe collective work would be more effective if there are no parallel steps to impose sanctions on Iran, let alone periodical calls to use force against Iran," Mr Lavrov said.

"Such unilateral actions contradict our collective efforts and make them less effective."

Dr Rice responded by defending US policy on Iran. "The whole purpose of the exercise is to convince Iran... to suspend its enriching capabilities," she said.

Earlier yesterday at a meeting with Dr Rice and Mr Gates, President Vladimir Putin said Russia may quit a 1987 treaty on intermediate nuclear missiles unless it was expanded to include other countries.

That is likely to add a new complication to security relations between Russia and the United States, which are already overshadowed by the missile shield row and Russia's plan to suspend compliance with another treaty on conventional forces in Europe.

Some Western policy-makers have warned of a return to Cold War tensions as Russia seeks to restore its military might, causing friction with the West.