U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates arrives in Moscow March 17, 2008. Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will meet their Russian counterparts to discuss missile defense, non-proliferation and counterterrorism.
Photo: Reuters
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Condoleezza Rice Arrived in Moscow to Negotiate
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Moscow today to join Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the missile defense negotiations, RIA-Novosti reported.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and President-Elect Dmitry Medvedev will meet with Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in the Kremlin Monday, while the actual negotiations are slated for Tuesday, March 18, and will be held in the two-plus-two format. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov will stand for Russia during the talks.
The expected highlights of the talks are stationing the U.S. missile defense shield in Poland and in the Czech Republic as well as concluding a new treaty for the limitation and reduction of offensive strategic weapons instead of the START I Treaty, which expires in 2009.
The parties failed to reach any compromise at the previous two-plus-two talks in Moscow past October. Same as before, Russia’s standing is that the deployment of 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic threatens the national security of the country.
www.kommersant.com
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