October 12, 2007 (LPAC)--The much-awaited 2+2 ministerial meeting between the foreign and defense ministers from Russia and the U.S. on President Putin's missile defense proposal and a variety of other issues failed to achieve agreement on any of the key issues, but with both parties intent on continuing the discussions. The U.S. refuses to back away from the decision they made with regard to placing missiles in Poland and a radar in the Czech Republic, both of which had caused great anxiety in Moscow. The U.S. attempted unsuccessfully to convince the Russians that these facilities were not a threat and that U.S.-Russian cooperation must include them.

Prior to their ministerial meeting, President Putin met with the four of them. "I am sure that you have already had the opportunity and will have the chance again to discuss the missile defense issue with your colleagues,'' he said.. "As far as I have been informed, you have your own vision of how cooperation in this area should develop, and we welcome this constructive spirit. The one point I would like to make is that we hope that you will not push ahead with your prior agreements with Eastern European countries while this complex negotiating process continues. "After all,'' he added, "we could decide some day to put missile defense systems on the Moon, but if we concentrate solely on carrying out our own plans we could end up losing the opportunity for reaching an agreement. But we see that our American partners are showing a constructive desire to continue the dialogue and we think this is a very positive signal.'' The U.S. side put forward an alternative proposal, which the Russian side agreed to study.

Talks would continue on the matter at the "experts' level,'' and another 2+2 ministerial would be scheduled in Washington in six months' time to again review the issues. President Putin reiterated Russia's intention to withdraw from the CFE Treaty, which limited its forces facing Europe, unless the agreement would include countries other than the U.S. Putin noted that the treaty put no restrictions on the number of forces or weaponry deployed by any of the other countries on Russia's borders, and that these are continuing to develop their forces unhampered by any treaty agreements. The two sides also failed to reach any agreement on a follow-up to the nuclear arms limitation treaty, START, which runs out in 2008, with the U.S. unwilling to commit themselves to a legally binding agreement on the matter.