Moscow declared on Friday that visiting US national security advisor Condoleezza Rice offered no new or convincing arguments in favor of missile defense and that Russia remained strictly opposed to the idea.
Top foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko reaffirmed Russia's commitment to the cornerstone 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile accord signed by Washington and Moscow, which bars the United States from building its controversial missile shield.
"We did not hear any new argument from Ms Condoleezza Rice to make us change our position," Yakovenko told RTR state television.
Rice was in Moscow this week in a bid to impress on Russia the need to move beyond the ABM agreement so that nations could protect themselves against attack from so-called "rogue states" like North Korea and Iraq.
Commenting on Moscow press reports Friday which suggested that Russia was ready to strike a deal over ABM, Yakovenko said that such comments "do not correspond to reality."
"Russian President Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin once against reaffirmed our position on the ABM following his talks with US President (George W.) Bush in Genoa" earlier this month, said the spokesman.
Yakovenko noted that the key result of the summit in the Italian port city was an agreement "to conduct radical mutual cuts of strategic offensive weapons" and not any decision on ABM.
Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov later reaffirmed Russia's desire to slash both nations' nuclear warhead ceiling to 1,500 "and even lower."
Rice however refused to discuss and specific figures, a position that bemused at least one Kremlin official.
"The American administration, on the whole, has not yet formulated its negotiations position on strategic stability," Russian wire services cited the Kremlin source as saying.
"This is only highlighted by the fact that Ms Rice brought no concrete figures or proposals," said the sources, adding that the negotiation could "stretch on for years."
Moscow diplomats appeared to bristle most at press comments that emphasized the presence of US Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill during Rice's talks with Putin.
This meant that Moscow was ready to strike a deal on ABM in exchange for Washington's recognition of Russia as a free-market economy, a move that would allow the nation to join the World Trade Organization after eight years of trying, the press said.
"Russia and the United States are starting negotiations on a so-called package agreement -- ABM in exchange for economic assistance and US cuts in strategic arms," the Kommersant business daily remarked.
"Clearly, the military-strategic dialogue between Russia and the United States will be linked to the theme of trade and economic cooperation," the Nezavisimaya Gazeta agreed.
Indeed Rice made it clear during her talks with top military officials here that Washington would pursue its missile shield even if Moscow did not agree on ABM -- thus hinting compromise would only work in Russia's favor.
Bush "has not set a specific deadline, but it should be obvious to all concerned that the president believes that this is something that will happen relatively soon," Rice warned. "The testing program will proceed."
Russia is thus facing the prospect of the United States' unilateral withdrawal from the ABM treaty, which it can do after serving official notice six months ahead of time.
But while Moscow has threatened to stock up on nuclear warheads should Washington follow through on its own, some Russian officials have recently adopted a more conciliatory tone, suggesting they were ready to strike a bargain.
Rice and her Russian hosts on Thursday agreed to speed up strategic security negotiations.
They plan to present a potential compromise in time for Bush's next meeting with Putin, to be held on the sidelines of the October 21-22 APEC summit in Shanghai -- MOSCOW (AFP)
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