Rice says no new Cold War with Russia

MOSCOW, May 14 (Reuters) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that talk of a new Cold War with Russia had ''no basis whatsoever''.

Rice told reporters on her flight to Moscow for talks with President Vladimir Putin that Washington's relationship with Russia did not look anything like the one that existed with the Soviet Union.

''I know people talk about, throw around terms like new Cold War As somebody who came out of that period as a specialist in it I think the parallels ... frankly, they have no basis whatsoever,'' she added.

Rice said she would try to ease Moscow's concerns about US plans to build a missile shield in Europe and about a plan to grant effective independence to the Serbian province of Kosovo, which has been under UN administration for nearly eight years.

Russia is strongly opposed to both plans and Putin has expressed in recent speeches his unease at US foreign policy more generally, accusing the United States of seeking to impose its will on the rest of the world.

While Rice acknowledged the strains in the relationship, she said talk of its deterioration was overblown and obscured many areas where the two nations cooperate, including on reining in nuclear programmes in Iran and North Korea.

US companies have been enjoying sharply growing profits in Russia, as the country's strong oil and gas-fuelled growth enters its ninth consecutive year.

Russian officials say they are preparing for calm and positive talks with Rice on her two-day visit, in 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, said.

''What we need is not briefings but joint work and a joint search for solutions.'' Rice will meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials during her time in Russia.

She is the most senior U.S. official to visit Moscow since Putin surprised the West with a speech in Munich in February sharply 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.

NOT EASY But Rice, in her comments to reporters on the plane to Moscow, said recent political tension with Russia needed to be put into a wider context.

''It's not an easy time for the relationship. It's not,'' she said. She described the overall state of ties between Moscow and Washington as ''mixed'' and said she said she did not like Moscow's rhetoric.

But she added: ''If you look at the actual ... facts on the ground and you look at the level of cooperation that we have had on North Korea, on Iran, if you look at the WTO agreement that we've signed with Russia ... it just doesn't accord with some of the rhetoric that does sometimes come out''.

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 what it says is the erosion of democracy under Putin and complaints about the Kremlin's treatment of ex-Soviet neighbours who seek closer ties with the West.

But Rice said it would be a mistake for the United States to seek to isolate Russia, arguing that it is more likely to make progress on democracy and other issues if Moscow is included in Western institutions.

REUTERS AB PM1856