At talks in Moscow, Igor Ivanov, secretary of the Security Council, and Stephen Hadley, assistant to the U.S. president for national security, highlighted the development of a strategic dialogue between Russia and the U.S. on security and other international issues.
"Igor Ivanov underlined the importance of addressing existing concerns between our states through dialogue," the press service said.
Ivanov and Hadley discussed the Iranian nuclear problem, the situation in Kosovo, Iraq, and Afghanistan, the Middle East peace process, and North Korea's nuclear program.
Ivanov said rescinding the Jackson-Vanik amendment, which has been restricting trade with Russia, would be a good signal for the advancement of Russian-U.S. relations.
Tom Lantos, the chairman of the U.S. Congressional Foreign Affairs Committee, on an official visit to Moscow, said Wednesday that the time has come to rescind the amendment.
The 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment links U.S. trade benefits, known as Normal Trade Relations (NTR), to the emigration and human rights policies of Communist or former Communist countries.
The amendment has been lifted for many of Russia's former Communist allies, but still remains in force for Russia.
Russia and the United States are currently in a dispute over American plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Central Europe. Moscow strongly opposes the deployment of a missile shield in its former backyard in Central Europe, describing the plans as a threat to Russian national security.
Lantos also said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's speech at the 43rd Munich Conference on Security Policy earlier this month will not hinder cooperation between the two countries and will not change America's positive attitude toward Russia.
The Russian leader told the conference in Munich that the reasons the U.S. cited in favor of deploying a missile defense system in Europe are not convincing enough, as to launch North Korean ballistic missiles against the U.S. across Western Europe would conflict with the physical laws of ballistics.
Putin said the deployment of a U.S. missile defense system in Central Europe could trigger a new spiral of the arms race.
He also said the U.S. has been ignoring basic principles of international law and is striving to impose its own rules on other countries, adding that NATO expansion toward Russian borders has nothing to do with ensuring security in Europe or fighting terrorism.
