Rice, Gates due in Moscow for missile defence talks

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MOSCOW, Mar 17 (AFP): Top US officials Condoleezza Rice and Robert Gates were to hold sensitive talks on missile defence Monday with Russian President Vladimir Putin and his successor in waiting Dmitry Medvedev.
The talks were a first opportunity since Russia's presidential polls for Secretary of State Rice and Defence Secretary Gates to gauge the transition process in Russia and the extent to which Putin will continue to wield influence.
Tensions are mounting over US plans to place missile defence facilities in eastern Europe, while possible expansion of the NATO military alliance, which Moscow also opposes, is simultaneously rising up the international agenda.