Moscow has said a move towards a missile defence strategy would violate the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
Russia appears close to agreeing a deal to revise the anti-ballistic missile treaty - lifting its objections to an American system of missile defence.
Their Aegis missile defence system, deployed to protect American carrier groups, is designed to track a missile's trajectory from launch.
When urging the parliament to ratify Start II on Friday he warned that Russia would withdraw from all arms control agreements if the US went ahead with the missile defence programme, thereby breaking the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty.
James Miller, Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Defence, later clarified that the final phase of the missile defence programme had been dropped.
U.S. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said in Washington that the Pentagon planned to begin construction next April for missile defence tests that could violate the treaty.
Mr Putin is expected to urge Mr Blair to refuse to allow the US to modernise missile-tracking radar stations in the UK if the White House decides to go ahead with a new missile defence system dubbed "son of Star Wars".
Beyond the summit spotlight, European foreign and defence ministers were expected to try to forge a common stance on a controversial U.S. missile defence plan before their leaders meet with U.S. President George W. Bush in Gothenburg, Sweden on Thursday, Associated Press reported.
Missile defence may be able to play a significant part in blunting this threat.
This pro-Bush coalition is no guarantee that European countries will eventually endorse missile defence.
However, Nato's leader said Russia's alternative to the US missile defence shield had its weaknesses.
In foreign policy Mr Putin remained unrepentantly blunt, notably on missile defence (see article).
ECONOMIST: A once and future president seems confident��too confident
Where does all of this leave the calculation of missile defence and how effective it can be?
Two of the newest members of the alliance, Poland and the Czech Republic, strongly supported missile defence.
Russia suspects the operation was a cover to test anti-satellite technology under the US missile defence programme.
BBC: The Pentagon used a missile to shoot down the satellite
LONDON, England -- Britain is offering tentative support for the United States' proposal to build a national missile defence system.
Pavel Felgenhauer, an independent analyst in Moscow, says Russia wants concessions on issues such as missile defence and NATO enlargement.
In the past week, Pakistan has test-fired two ballistic missiles and India responded by test-firing a new short-range air-defence missile.
Mr Obama said he would have more "flexibility" on difficult issues such as the US missile defence plans after November's election.
The Pentagon will shift some of the funding away from the missile defence programme it has been setting up in Europe.
The Rumsfeld report was one of the impulses behind America's renewed interest in missile defence, to which Mr Bush is committed.
The Americans are already signalling that there will be no formal reassurances or trading with Russia on missile defence or Nato expansion.
Mr Gates wants a regular forum at which the two sides discuss issues such as nuclear weapons, missile defence, cyber-warfare and space.
He voted against missile defence, normalising trade with China, welfare reform, education reform and his own party's changes to the estate tax.
One costly category that Japan plans to invest in is missile defence.
The Israeli army says that one rocket landed near Netivot and another was intercepted by its Iron Dome Missile Defence System, near Beersheva.
Mr Clinton had reluctantly signed the National Missile Defence Act, which commits the president to deploying national defences as soon as technologically feasible.
It has two swimming pools, two helipads, a dedicated disco hall, 30 cabins, a cinema, a mini-submarine, and even its own missile defence system.
China's concern was that the American missile defence system would lead to increasing use of space for military purposes and fuel an arms race.
Adding up all his commitments on anti-missile defence, medical entitlements and so on, they amount to hundreds of billions of dollars over ten years.
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