Talks fail on missile shield, nuclear weapons

Russia and the United States failed yesterday to agree on Washington's plans to deploy parts of a missile defense shield in eastern Europe.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates had also produced no agreement on how to replace a Cold War-era pact on long-range nuclear weapons when it expires.

Announcing the failure to agree, Lavrov told a news conference: "... I mean first and foremost on the missile shield plan and the future of the START treaty after it expires next year."