U.S.-Russia meeting more pleasant than last time

MOSCOW — U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrapped up talks with Russian leaders Tuesday without any Kremlin commitment to drop opposition to U.S. plans for a missile-defense system in Eastern Europe.

But unlike their last visit here, there were no lectures from the Russian side and no threats, a sign that relations between Washington and Moscow are warming after a long, deep chill.

A tone of measured amicability pervaded over Rice and Gates' two-day visit to Moscow that included talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, President-elect Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

The centerpiece of the meetings was missile defense, as it was during the two Americans' last visit to the Russian capital in October, when they met with Putin and later with Lavrov and Serdyukov.

That meeting was overshadowed by a tense encounter with Putin, in which the Russian leader lectured and berated Rice and Gates for moving ahead with plans for missile defense on Russia's doorstep without taking into account Moscow's view.

Putin's tone last fall contrasted sharply with his demeanor Monday, when he warmly received Rice and Gates and called a letter from President Bush laying out a framework for future U.S.-Russian relations a "serious document."

The difference in the tone of the two visits, analysts say, lies in their timing. Rice and Gates' first visit came before crucial Russian parliament elections and the presidential election won by Medvedev, Putin's hand-picked successor and protégé.

"Putin had to take into account the great influence of anti-American sentiment in Russia, and he played the anti-American card in both campaigns," said Yevgeny Volk, an analyst with the Heritage Foundation's Moscow office. "But now it's not so important to be anti-American so openly."

The change of Russian demeanor was evident in the Kremlin's posture toward U.S. plans to deploy a ballistic-missile defense system based in the Czech Republic and Poland that would shield Europe and American troops based there from a potential attack from Iran.

The Kremlin has maintained that there is no evidence Iran would have long-range-missile ability any time soon. And they worry that future modifications to the shield could pose a strategic threat to Russian national security.

While Lavrov made it clear that Russia continues to oppose the missile-defense system, he said Russia is willing to scrutinize measures Rice and Gates proposed that are meant to allay the Kremlin's concerns about the shield.

At the news conference, neither side would discuss what those measures are. In the past, U.S. officials have proposed holding off on activating the shield until Washington has proof that Iran has missiles capable of striking European territory.

Gates has said the U.S. also would allow Russia monitoring access to the defense shield's interceptor missiles in Poland and radar system in the Czech Republic as a means of ensuring that the system isn't directed at Russia.

Both sides agreed that the Rice and Gates delegation would put their proposals in writing by Tuesday evening and submit them to Russian experts for review.

Underpinning the tone of cooperation that both sides tried to convey is a "strategic framework" for future U.S.-Russian relations that Rice and Gates discussed with their Russian counterparts. Rice said the document lists issues on which Russia and the U.S. share common interests, such as combating nuclear terrorism, as well as difficult, unresolved matters such as missile defense.

The document will provide a framework for U.S.-Russian ties as both countries prepare for leadership changes. Medvedev will succeed Putin as president May 7, and Bush leaves office in January.