Rice goes to Moscow to mend US-Russia ties

MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Russia today seeking to patch up a relationship so strained by differences over Kosovo and missile defence that some have warned of a new Cold War.

Russian officials say they are preparing for calm and positive talks with Rice on her two-day visit, in marked contrast to the shrill tone of exchanges between Moscow and Washington in the past few months.

But Moscow -- flush with oil money and once again flexing its muscles as a world power just as Washington is mired in Iraq -- warned that it would not be dictated to by its US visitor.

''We always call on our American partners to talk frankly and not try to force their point of view on others,'' Mikhail Kamynin, chief spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, told Reuters.

''What we need is not briefings but joint work and a joint search for solutions.'' Rice is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials.

She is the most senior US official to visit Moscow since Putin stunned the West with a speech in Munich in February criticising Washington's foreign policy.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said after the speech it revived his memories of the Cold War and he cautioned against sliding back into that era.

SPECTACULAR The US and Russian differences are so entrenched there is little chance of a breakthrough on issues of substance, said Fyodor ukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affiars.

But he said Rice's meetings could help take some of the hostility out of the atmosphere between Moscow and Washington.

''There is not going to be a row,'' said Lukyanov. ''As a rule, when a meeting takes place ... both sides try not to say unpleasant things to each other. They try to soften the impact of the rest of their entourage.'' US Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Fried gave a frank assessment last week when he said: ''We've had some spectacular differences with Russia recently.'' Disagreements over the future of Serbia's Kosovo province, and Russian objections to a US plan to build elements of a missile defence shield in Poland and the Czech Republic are some of the chief irritants.

Putin last month raised the stakes by saying Russia was suspending compliance with a conventional arms control treaty, a move widely seen as the Kremlin's response to the US missile shield plans.

On Kosovo, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations said at the weekend it was ''becoming more and more likely'' his country would veto a draft Security Council resolution -- backed by Washington -- that gives the province effective independence.

Washington has its own grievances with Russia, in particular concerns about democracy under Putin and the Kremlin's treatment of ex-Soviet neighbours who seek closer ties with the West.

But the Russian foreign ministry spokesman played down the differences.

''We see nothing dramatic in the current phase of Russian-American relations. The fact there are varying views and points of view is normal,'' said Kamynin.

''It is important that both our sides take into account that much in the world depends on the relations between our countries.'' REUTERS AB KN1612