"Overall, the measures of 'transparency and trust' offered to us were mostly symbolic and could not contribute to mitigating Russian concerns," Lavrov said, answering reader's questions in the government newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

It was unlikely that the United States would agree to a jointly controlled missile defence system, a proposal put forth by Moscow as an alternative to the US shield, he added.

"The US, as everyone knows, has never given control to anyone, will not now and obviously will never give up control over their strategic systems," he said. Moscow had proposed a "dual key" control system giving Russia the power to block launches.

Russo-US relations were badly strained under the administration of former US president George W. Bush, which pushed ahead with plans to deploy parts of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic despite Moscow's objections.

While Washington views the shield as protection from "rogue" states such as Iran, Moscow says the system poses a threat to its nuclear deterrent.

But both countries have offered up diplomatic overtures and hopes for better relations under US President Barack Obama.

Lavrov dubbed the moment a "historic chance" but added that Russia was still waiting for the United States to prove its willingness to reset relations.

But he added: "The reset technology works only if the people employing it want it to."

Previous such attempts had been thwarted by NATO's eastward expansion in the 1990s and by US support for Georgia during its war last year with Russia, he said.

"The problem is that in the last 20 years we twice unilaterally carried out such a reset with the aim of breaking down Cold War barriers, and twice we were met with the unwillingness of our partners to meet us halfway," Lavrov said.

Obama said this month that he would move ahead with US plans for the missile shield, saying Iran remained a "real threat" but adding that the system needed to be "cost-effective and proven."

Related Links
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com

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Arlington, Va. (UPI) Feb 2, 2009
In 1998 a U.S. presidential commission warned that the nuclear threat from "rogue states" such as North Korea was growing rapidly. In response, the Clinton administration proposed a $60 billion plan to build radars and interceptor missiles that could defend all 50 states against a limited nuclear attack.