President Barack Obama has said the US and Russia have an "excellent opportunity" to improve relations on a "whole host of issues".

They include nuclear proliferation, Afghanistan and Pakistan, conflicts in Iraq and the Middle East, and the global economy, he said.

Mr Obama was speaking after talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Mr Lavrov had earlier met US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for talks on reducing nuclear stockpiles.

Russia and the US have begun working on a new treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or (Start I), which expires in December.

'New level'

Mr Lavrov's visit came after Nato exercises in Georgia put relations between the two countries under renewed strain.

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Not to mention the umbrella... see toon at top.

15 June 2009ReutersThe Foreign Ministry has spurned an offer from the United States to participate closely in its planned European anti-missile system, instead urging Washington to drop its proposals and start afresh.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Tuesday that he was hopeful that Moscow might consider hosting either radars or a data exchange center as it recognized the growing threat from Iran.

But Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Moscow would not entertain any novel ideas until Washington dropped its intention to place 10 interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.

"Only a rejection by the United States of plans to create a ... missile defense system in Europe could lay the groundwork for our fully fledged dialogue on questions of cooperation in reacting to potential missile risks," Nesterenko told reporters late last week.

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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has urged the US to move relations forward by shelving plans for a missile defence shield in Europe.

His comments come ahead of a summit between US President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dimitry Medvedev.

They serve, correspondents say, as a clear sign that the powerful former president will have to be taken into account during the negotiations.

Mr Obama is preparing to visit Moscow between 6 and 8 July.

Reducing both countries' nuclear stockpiles, as well as Iran and North Korea, will be on the agenda when he meets Mr Medvedev.

'Two feet'

Mr Obama said on Thursday that the US was developing a "very good relationship" with the Russian president.

But, says the BBC's Richard Galpin in Moscow, Mr Putin has persistently made it clear that it is he - not his successor - who takes all the key decisions.

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Obama scraps bush missile-defence plan.... George W. Bush crafted a plan to bring a missile defense system to Poland and the Czech Republic. In one of the more dramatic departures from the previous administration, President Obama announced this morning that U.S. policy is changing course.

The White House is not abandoning missile-defense altogether, but on the advice of the Pentagon and the unanimous judgment and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the U.S. will "instead deploy a reconfigured system aimed more at intercepting shorter-range Iranian missiles."

As the president explained this morning, "This new approach will provide capabilities sooner, build on proven systems, and offer greater defenses against the threat of missile attack than the 2007 European missile defense program.... To put it simply, our new missile defense architecture in Europe will provide stronger, smarter, and swifter defenses of American forces and America's allies. It is more comprehensive than the previous program; it deploys capabilities that are proven and cost-effective; and it sustains and builds upon our commitment to protect the U.S. homeland against long-range ballistic missile threats; and it ensures and enhances the protection of all our NATO allies."

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/142704/obama_scraps_bush_missile-defense_plan

MOSCOW — Russia will deploy its own missiles and could withdraw from the New Start nuclear arms reduction treaty if the United States moves forward with its plans for a missile-defense system in Europe, President Dmitri A. Medvedev warned on Wednesday.

“I have set the task to the armed forces to develop measures for disabling missile-defense data and control systems,” Mr. Medvedev said.

He said new Russian strategic ballistic missiles “will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly effective warheads” and he reiterated Russia’s warning that it would deploy tactical missiles to the western territory of Kaliningrad, which borders Poland.

But it was Mr. Medvedev’s comments about the New Start treaty, put into effect this year, that suggested a darkening tone in what has been a steady drumbeat of warnings out of Moscow in recent days over the plans for a missile-defense system based in Europe.

“In the case of unfavorable development of the situation, Russia reserves the right to discontinue further steps in the field of disarmament and arms control,” Mr. Medvedev said in a televised address from his residence just outside Moscow.

“Given the intrinsic link between strategic offensive and defensive arms, conditions for our withdrawal from the New Start treaty could also arise,” he said.

Several times in his address, Mr. Medvedev reiterated his call for further negotiations between Russia and the United States, but such talks seem unlikely to change the strongly held views on each side.

At issue is the Europe-based system being developed by the United States that it says would defend against a potential missile attack by Iran. The United States has reached agreements to place 24 interceptor missiles in Romania, as well as a sophisticated radar system in Turkey.

Russia believes that that system could be used against its intercontinental ballistic missiles and has demanded assurance in writing that this would not be the case. The United States has said it will not agree to any restrictions on its missile-defense efforts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/24/world/europe/russia-elevates-warning-about-us-missile-defense-shield-plan.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=print

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