High-level talks on Friday between the United States and Russia failed to bridge major differences over US plans for a missile defense system in Europe and a range of strategic arms issues.

After a series of tense meetings that began with a blunt rebuff from Russian President Vladimir Putin, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates appeared to have been unable to turn around Moscow’s opposition to missile defense.

Rice and Gates brought several new detailed proposals to the table meant to ease Russian concerns that the system would not be aimed at Moscow, but the pair was unable to convince Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov or Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

Jinxed

“We see serious problems with these proposals,” Lavrov said. He said the two sides still disagree about the nature of the missile threat to Europe and that the Bush administration refuses to freeze its deployment plans while the issue is discussed.

“There is no agreement on this,” Lavrov said. He said that while the initial US plan to place elements of the system in Poland and the Czech Republic were small, it could grow to become a threat to Russia's deterrent force. “There is a potential threat for us here.”

Rice said the ideas that she and Gates presented are “conceptual at this point” and would be handed to experts to consider further. The two sides plan to meet again in Washington in about six months.

“I know that we don’t always see eye-to-eye on every element of the solutions to these issues, nonetheless, I believe we will do this in a constructive spirit, that we will make progress during these talks as we continue to pursue cooperation,” Rice added.