Russia and the United States will hold the next round of missile defense talks in the "two plus two format" over Russia's proposal to create a joint missile defense system, the Itar-Tass news agency reported on Thursday.

"US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice intends to visit Moscow in March-April for participation in the consultations over these issues," a diplomatic source was quoted by Itar-Tass as saying without specifying the venue of the meeting.

The diplomat said that "the US side continues to consider Russian proposals on creating a joint missile defense, but so far as an addition to its system in Eastern Europe."

The upcoming meeting in the "two plus two format" which will involve the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries " should clarify how possible such cooperation is," the source said.

At the previous talks in the same format in Moscow in October 2007, an accord was reached on holding consultations in the United States in the spring of 2008.

(Xinhua News Agency February 29, 2008)