Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened Friday in talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to abandon a key nuclear missile treaty, while also telling Washington to freeze plans for a European anti-missile shield.
Speaking at the start of talks with Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates, the Kremlin leader said the Cold War-era INF treaty limiting Russian and US short and medium range missiles was outmoded because other countries were acquiring such weapons.
"If we are unable to make such a goal of making this treaty universal, then it will be difficult for us to keep within the framework of such a treaty, especially when other countries do have such weapons systems," Putin said.
Putin urged the US delegation, which was in Moscow to address spiralling Russian-US tensions, "not to force" the planned deployment of an anti-missile system in new NATO members Poland and the Czech Republic.
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Gates said that talks on Friday and Saturday were to tackle "an ambitious agenda for security issues that concern both of us, including the development of missile systems by others in the neighbourhood -- I would say in particular Iran."
The two sides were also to raise Iran's nuclear programme, the status of Kosovo, and proposals to renew the Cold War-era START strategic missile treaty.
Adding to the sensitivity of the trip, which comes at a time of rancorous relations between an increasingly hawkish Kremlin and White House, Rice was to meet with human rights activists.
