Source: dpa, 18-03-2008
Moscow - The day-long meeting between the US and Russian secretaries of defense and foreign policy ended Tuesday without compromise on vehemently disputed US plans to deploy a missile defense shield in Europe that Russia views as a threat to its security.
But the abundance of positive rhetoric ahead of the meeting appeared to transform into promises for further rounds of negotiations.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the two countries "had not yet reached an agreement - above all on the missile defense system and a future arms control regime."
Lavrov, however, affirmed that the Russian side was ready to listen to US proposals.
An hour before the close of the meeting Tuesday the Interfax news agency quoted a source close to the discussions as saying there had been no change in the Russian and US positions on the US missile defense plans.
"The problem remains and consists of the fact that the Americans are not giving up their plans to deploy a missile defense system in Eastern Europe," Interfax quoted the source as saying.