MOSCOW. May 17 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia hopes that the declaration that is being prepared for the upcoming Russian-U.S. summit "will reflect U.S. assurances that the future U.S. missile defense system will be limited and will not pose a threat to the strategic forces of Russia and the global economic balance," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexei Meshkov said at a conference devoted to the new Russia-NATO relationship on Friday.
This is a key issues as it "directly influences world stability and the firmness of international regimes in the non- proliferation of weapons of mass destruction," he said.
In addition, "the declaration will contain a provision on the interrelation between strategic offensive and defensive arms," Meshkov said. "This is important in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the 1972 ABM Treaty, which is due in June," he said.
He also said Moscow wants "economic cooperation to become the load- carrying structure of the entire mechanism of the new strategic relations" between Russia and the U.S., he said.