Rice: Russia, US agree to tone down rhetoric

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Source: CCTV.com | 05-16-2007 09:41

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice shakes hands with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) after a press conference in Moscow. Rice and Russia's President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday to ease their diplomatic rhetoric, but made no progress on resolving security disputes poisoning relations between the two powers.(AFP/Maxim Marmur)

Russia and the United States agreed on Tuesday to improve bilateral ties, though differences still remain.

In a meeting between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the two sides agreed to tone down rhetoric in public exchanges and focus on concrete issues.

Despite disagreement on the future of Kosovo, and an anti-missile defense system for Eastern Europe, both Rice and Lavrov agreed to tone down the rhetoric in US-Russian relations.

Rice said, "And we very much value the opportunity to discuss the issue with Russia and to talk about the emerging threats. Ultimately, we may see those threats differently, and what needs to be done about them. But I would not use the same word to describe what it

means for the relationship. I think that to say it

threatens the relationship, that we may have a disagreement about an issue like this, is to overstate the case."

Sergei Lavrov said, "The differences between us on these internationalissues will remain and it is inevitable that it will appear in certain aspects. We are both too large to agree on everything. But we are also such great powers that we cannot afford not to have a strategic partnership based on specific issues no matter how important they might be."

Rice also dismissed talk of a "new Cold war", saying the US was committed to working through its differences with Russia.

Russia takes the US missile plan as a threat to its own security. It also opposes the draft plan by the EU to give Kosovo independence.

Despite trying to persuade Russia not to veto its plans to build a missile defense shield in Europe, Rice's two-day visit to Moscow is to lay the ground work for next month meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush at a G-8 summit in Germany.

Editor:Du Xiaodan