Rusland beschuldigt VS van terugkrabbelen over afspraken raketschild (en)
Washington has indicated it is willing to "refine" its plans to place parts of a missile defence shield in Central Europe to accommodate Russian concerns, following accusations by Moscow that it was backtracking from earlier commitments.
"There is no reason to assume that there is not room to continue to refine these proposals", US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Thursday (6 December) in response to an accusation by her Russian counterpart that the White House had turned a deaf ear to Moscow's demands.
According to Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, there has been a "serious rollback" from what the Bush administration pledged during October talks on a US missile defence system.
At the time, the US promised to delay activation of its defence system until Washington and Moscow collectively agreed on missile threats.
It also supported the idea of Russian liaison officers being stationed at the sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, as long as the two host countries agreed.
"We are, frankly, disappointed", Mr Lavrov said.
The US aims at placing ten interceptor missiles in Polish territory and a radar base in the Czech Republic, claiming such a military base would defend the two continents, America and Europe, from "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea.
However, the argument is currently being questioned, as a US intelligence report has shown that Iran suspended its efforts to develop nuclear weapons in 2003.
According to Mr Lavrov, the report also justifies Moscow's resistance to new sanctions against Tehran.
Warning against further military build-up
Apart from the US missile shield, there is another thorny issue to be sorted out at Friday's talks between Condoleezza Rice and Sergei Lavrov at NATO headquarters.
Just days are left until Russia's commitments under the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CEF) treaty, which sets limits on the number of conventional weapons and military deployments across Europe, expires on 12 December.
"We are not declaring a moratorium so as to begin building up military forces on the border with NATO", Anatoly Antonov from the foreign ministry's security and arms control department was cited as saying on Thursday (6 December) by AP.
According to Mr Antonov, "in the future, everything will depend on an appropriate reaction from our partners".
The comment is thought to refer to Moscow's two requirements - that NATO halts its military expansion to the east and that NATO members ratify a 1999 update of the CEF treaty.
Washington and some European NATO countries have up until now declined to sign the revised version of the treaty, asking Moscow to first withdraw its remaining forces from its breakaway regions, Georgia and Moldova.