Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday said no agreement had been reached with Washington over US missile defence plans in Europe following talks with top US officials in Moscow.

“We’ve also talked about those issues where we still don't agree. I mean of course missile defence and the future of the STAT treaty,” Lavrov told reporters, referring to an arms control agreement.

Speaking at a joint press conference with US Secretary of State Condolezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates, Lavrov hinted at some progress and said talks on the two subjects of dispute would continue.

"The United States plans to site a radar base in the Czech Republic and 10 interceptor missiles in Poland, saying the missile defence installations will help guard against a potential missile threat from Iran and North Korea."
Moscow has reacted angrily to the plan, saying it is aimed at Russia.

Another point of contention between Russia and the United States is the renewal of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was drawn up to limit each side's intercontinental nuclear arsenals and runs out in 2009.
Lavrov said that the two sides had reached  an agreement to make any future strategic arms agreement legally binding but that a lot of work remained to be done on hammering out the content of the deal.

He also said the US had made "important" new offers on missile defence and that negotiations on the issue would continue.