U.S., Russia Envoys Seek to Cool Tension

President Vladimir Putin speaks to servicemen and veterans during a meeting to mark the upcoming national holiday, the Defenders of Fatherland Day, in the Moscow Kremlin, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2007. The U.S. national security adviser sought Thursday to ease Russian concerns about American intentions, saying he did not consider a fiery speech by Putin to have been a sign of confrontation, and reiterating reassurances about U.S. missile defense plans. At a security conference this month in Germany, Putin said the United States "has overstepped its national borders in every way" and is fostering a global arms race _ an unusually clear, comprehensive account of Kremlin complaints about U.S. conduct. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service, Dmitry Astakhov) (Itar-tass - AP)

WASHINGTON -- The top U.S. and Russian diplomats on Sunday tried to play down concerns about a Cold War revival set off by Russian President Vladimir Putin's claim that Washington is fostering a global arms race.

But Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov could not put aside disagreements about a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe.

Lavrov wrote in Sunday's Washington Post that Putin's recent remarks have been widely misinterpreted.

"From the reaction of some Western journalists and politicians, one would think that the Russian president wished to ignite a blast of anti-American rhetoric to spark another Cold War," Lavrov wrote.

Rice also denied the rhetoric could push the countries back to Cold War-era relations.

"Russia is not the Soviet Union and we have to recognize that," she said. "We are cooperating with the Russians on a number of fronts, on North Korea, on Iran, in nuclear _ trying to prevent nuclear terrorism."

Putin said at a conference in Germany this month that the United States "has overstepped its national borders in every way" and is promoting a global arms race. His speech and subsequent Russian statements raised concerns about a proposed U.S. missile defense system in Europe that would include facilities in two former Soviet satellites, Poland and the Czech Republic.

Lavrov said Putin's speech reflected objections about the U.S. exerting its power without consulting other countries.

"He called for a world with many centers of influence where different interests work together, multilaterally, to shape a common denominator on global issues," Lavrov wrote. "What should Russia believe when the United States seeks to place anti-missile systems in Eastern Europe?"

Rice said Russia's objections to the missile defense system were unjustified.

"No one would suggest, anyone who knows anything about this, would suggest that somehow 10 interceptors deployed in Poland are going to threaten the thousands of warheads in the Russian deterrent," Rice said. "It's a ludicrous claim."

U.S. officials have said the interceptors being proposed for Europe could be overwhelmed easily by the size and speed of Russia's vast arsenal of intercontinental nuclear missiles and that the system is aimed at counteracting a potential threat from Iran.