Russia says US suggestions on missile defence are "interesting"

Russia and the United States were making progress in their ongoing dispute over US plans for a missile defence system in Central and Eastern Europe, a top Kremlin official indicated Friday. "The US side made a number of interesting suggestions we're looking at more closely," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was cited by the Interfax agency as sying Friday in the city of Belgorod. Lavrov was referring to the negotiations with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and US Defence Secretary Robert Gates in Moscow a week earlier. Russia called on the US government to put the suggested compromises into writing which had only been made orally before. President Vladimir Putin on Thursday said the US leadership had shown more understanding for the Russian position during their last meeting and was looking for ways to to dispel Moscow's concerns. Russia sees its security threatened by the missile defence technology the US plans to set up in the Czech Republic and Poland. The Kremlin in the past repeatedly threatened counter measures if the plans, including the stationing of new missiles in the Kaliningrad region, bordering Poland, were implemented. dpa sv gma ds