Russia is disappointed about the results of the last round of missile defense talks with the United States in Budapest Thursday, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry official told a press conference Saturday.

 

"At the present time, the outcomes of this conversation are discouraging," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying.

 

Russia hopes that this dialogue, which is being maintained on instructions of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart George W. Bush, would help the two countries "progress in search of common ground in settling problems of missile technology proliferation, preventing threats, and monitoring these threats, so that this should meet the interests of security for all," Kislyak said.

 

At an October meeting in the "two-plus-two" format joined by defense and foreign ministers of the two countries in Moscow, Russia and the United States failed to reach any agreement on missile defense in Europe, but made a decision to continue discussions at an expert level.

 

Moscow strongly opposes Washington's ABM system plans, which consist of a radar station in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland, saying they will pose a threat to its national security.

 

Washington has insisted that the missile shield is intended to stave off the threat of attacks from what it calls "rogue states."

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2007)