Following 40-minute talks with Rice, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Moscow was willing to listen to Washington's arguments, while noting that such talks would take some time.

Moscow is facing the prospect of the United States' unilateral withdrawal from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty, which prevents Washington from building a missile defense shield that Russia has warned could spark a new arms race reminiscent of the Cold War.

But while Moscow has threatened to stock up on nuclear warheads should Washington follow through on its own, Russia has recently adopted a more conciliatory tone suggesting it is ready to strike a useful bargain.

"Without being antagonists, without being enemies, Russia and the United States are looking for ways to establish -- on a new and even more stable basis -- a system of international security, including the key question of strategic stability," Ivanov said in televised remarks.

"We have many question for each other, but both sides are prepared for serious, honest and constructive talks," Ivanov said after his meeting with Rice, which was held without any interpreters.

Russian news agencies quoted Rice as saying that Moscow and Washington had reached a new era of cooperation, and that the two sides must move beyond the Cold War.

Washington argues that the 1972 ABM Treaty -- which banned Russia and the United States from building national missile defense systems -- is out of date now the main threat is from "rogue states" such as Iraq and North Korea.

Rice, who once studied in Moscow, is an expert on Soviet history who speaks some Russian, which she displayed during her meeting Wednesday with Security Council secretary Vladimir Rushailo.

It was unclear whether she and Ivanov spoke Russian or English.

Rice was also due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin at 12:00 pm (0800 GMT).

On her arrival Wednesday, Rice announced that Washington was intent on negotiating a completely new nuclear deterrence architecture that would suit Moscow and allow Washington to build its contested missile defense shield.

"The position of the United States government concerning the ABM treaty is very clear. We believe that it is a treaty that prevents us from carrying out research, development, testing and evaluation of defensive technologies that are so important in this era.

"And President Bush has made it a high priority of our government to proceed with defensive technologies," Rice said.

"But we do believe that we have a good and cooperative spirit with the Russian government, that the two presidents have developed a good relationship and we have the basis for cooperation" on the new threat from rogue states, she added.

The meeting follows last week's Genoa summit between US President George W. Bush and Putin at which the two unexpectedly agreed to link future negotiations over the ABM with mutual cuts in nuclear weapons.

Bush had previously refused to link the two, although Putin -- facing extreme cash shortages and an aging nuclear arsenal -- has pushed hard for deep cuts by both countries.

Putin on Monday warned against calling that agreement a "breakthrough," but most analysts note that the two sides appear two have broken the ice on the issue of missile defense.

Rice was accompanied to Moscow by US Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, who are due to meet Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin and Economic Development and Trade Minister German Gref.

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