German Foreign Minister Frank- Walter Steinmeier called on Thursday for a calm and open dialogue between Russia and the United States on U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in eastern Europe.

The talks should be conducted "without anti-U.S. or anti- Russian reflexes," said Steinmeier, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, after meeting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

Lavrov called for clarity about the U.S. missile defense plans in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russia sees as a threat, noting that there had been pauses of consultations within the framework of the NATO-Russia Council set up in May 2002.

"These occurred at the same time as the decision by the U.S. to establish elements of its national missile system in Eastern Europe," Lavrov said.

These pauses seemed to have been "tailored" to match the development of the missile defense plans in Eastern Europe, he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted on Wednesday that the U.S. missile defense system plan is not a threat to Russia.

"These missile defense are for purposes to do with post 9.11 threats" like "a growing Iranian missile threat," she said.

There had been at least 10 high-ranking consultations on the missile defense system with Moscow since February 2006, she said.

The United States plans to build 10 silos for interceptor missiles in Poland and an early warning radar station in the Czech Republic that would also supply intelligence.

Both Poland and the Czech Republic have expressed their willingness to host the installations.

Source: Xinhua