WASHINGTON (AFP) — US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice left for Moscow late Sunday, for a meeting with Russia's newly elected president Dmitry Medvedev, as well as other top officials.
The senior US officials also were to meet with outgoing President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov during the two-day trip.
They were to discuss a range of issues causing tension between Moscow and Washington, and were to try to assess Medvedev's independence from Putin, who stands down in May and will become Russia's prime minister.
Talks are expected to cover US plans for a missile defense shield in central Europe, which Moscow strongly opposes, and Russia's suspension of a Cold War-era treaty limiting troop deployments in Europe.
Kosovo's recent declaration of independence from Serbia -- which Washington has supported but which Russia rejects -- and the eastward expansion of the NATO military alliance also are likely to be on the agenda.
Analysts say the talks will also cover US-Russian cooperation, including the fight against terrorism and checking the spread of nuclear weapons.
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