MOSCOW (AP) - Russia is unlikely to drop its opposition to U.S. plans for a missile defense system anytime soon but eventually will want such defenses of its own, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday.
In an interview with reporters traveling with him on an overnight flight from Washington, Rumsfeld gave no indication he expected his talks Monday with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov to produce agreement on missile defenses, offensive nuclear forces or any other security issues.
``It's a process,'' he said in a brief exchange with Russian reporters after a welcoming ceremony at Victory Park, Russia's memorial to its World War II triumphs. ``Each meeting we have is helpful in that it lets each side get a little bit better understanding of each other's perspective.''
In the airborne interview, Rumsfeld said it will require patience to persuade Russia that the spread of ballistic missile technologies makes missile defense more important, and that the end of the Cold War makes legal obstacles to missile defense - namely the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty - irrelevant.
``It's a difficult road to travel,'' he said, referring to efforts to change the Russians' thinking.
As a prelude to Rumsfeld's visit, a group of senior Russian military officers held 18 hours of talks over two days last week at the Pentagon on linking the missile defense issue with further cuts in nuclear weapons.
Monday's talks grew out of President Bush 's meeting last month in Italy with Russian President Vladimir Putin in which they agreed to pursue parallel discussions on missile defense and reducing their nuclear arsenals. At the time it appeared the Russians might be warming to Bush's view that missile defense testing and deployment should not be limited by Cold War-era arms control treaties.
But since then there has been little indication of movement toward Bush's goal of getting Russia to agree on a mutual withdrawal from the ABM, which prohibits the kind of broad missile defense Bush says the United States must have.
Rumsfeld was hoping to arrange a meeting with Putin on Monday.
In the interview aboard his plane, Rumsfeld said the Bush administration is attempting to forge a new, broader relationship with Russia and that this cannot be done quickly - even with regard to missile defense, which he views as a matter of some urgency.
``It is not something that just happens,'' for two countries that considered each other enemies for more than 40 years and still harbor suspicions of each other, he said. ``It takes some time.''
He would not be drawn into saying how much he expected to accomplish in Moscow. He originally planned to hold two days of talks here but on Friday his office announced that the schedule - which includes an afternoon river cruise with Ivanov - had been condensed into a single day.
``You just don't know'' what could be accomplished, he said, adding that it was enough to have an exchange of views with the Russians ``and begin a process of going back and forth'' with ideas.
The visit is Rumsfeld's first to Russia since becoming defense secretary, although he has been here nine times previously - the first in 1974 when he accompanied President Ford, and the last in November 2000 as part of a U.S.-Russia business executives exchange sponsored by Rand Corp.
Rumsfeld said he was confident the U.S. view on missile defense will prevail eventually.
``If you look ahead 10 years ..., I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the people of Russia had become fans of missile defense,'' he said. Later, he added, ``People's attitudes about this are going to change.''
The basis of Russia's opposition is a concern that scrapping the ABM treaty could unravel the whole fabric of international arms control and that U.S. missile defenses might one day undercut Russia's own nuclear deterrent.
Rumsfeld said he has high regard for Ivanov, whom he first met in June. He said their dialogue has been helped by the fact that Ivanov is close to Putin and that Ivanov - a former intelligence officer - speaks English.
``You get a better feel for a person than you might if it's all done through translation,'' he said.
In addition to his meetings Monday with Ivanov, Rumsfeld also planned to meet with Russian journalists and, in a separate session, make comments and take questions from Russian opinion leaders.
His visit is part of a series of high-level U.S.-Russian contacts leading to Bush-Putin meetings in October in Shanghai and at Bush's ranch in Crawford, Texas, in November.
PHOTO CAPTION:
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld (R) and a Russian Honor Guards commander (L) visit the World War Two monument at Victory Park in Moscow, August 12, 2001. Rumsfeld arrived in Moscow on Sunday for talks with Russian officials on missile defense and expanded security cooperation. REUTERS/Viktor Korotayev
- Aug 12 10:05 AM ET