The United States and Russia have agreed to tone down diplomatic rhetoric, in a bid to improve strained ties. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the agreement was reached Tuesday in a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice outside Moscow.
A brief Kremlin statement gave no details of the meeting. But Lavrov, who attended, said Mr. Putin also reaffirmed Russia's opposition to a planned U.S. deployment of missile interceptors in Europe.
Speaking later to reporters, Secretary Rice said the United States will not permit Russia to block the missile system, set for deployment in Poland and the Czech Republic to counter missile threats from Iran. Moscow contends U.S. missiles in central Europe would destabilize the region and lead to an arms race.
Russia-U.S. relations have also grown tense in recent months over Moscow's expressed reluctance to support a United Nations plan granting supervised independence to Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province.
Earlier this year, President Putin stunned the West with a speech in Munich by criticizing Washington for what he called its "almost uncontained" use of military force. He also criticized NATO expansion.
Ahead of her arrival in Moscow Monday, Secretary Rice acknowledged rising bilateral tensions. She said Washington and Moscow are going through a difficult time, but that tensions fall far short of hostilities during the height of the Cold War
She also noted U.S.-Russian cooperation on such major issues as Iran and North Korea. - VOA News
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