Moscow, May 14 (UNI) US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today arrived in Moscow for a two-day official visit during which she will discuss with senior Russian officials, differences on the issue of deployment of National Missile Defence in Europe.

Ms Rice is expected to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials.

Her visit is taking place against a backdrop of sharp differences between Russia and the United States on global strategic and geo-political matters.

Russian analysts said the talks promised to be tough considering the current cooling in Russian-US relations.

The sides will also exchange opinions on the independence for Kosovo, Iran's nuclear programme, the situation in Iraq and an alleged clampdown on democracy in Russia.

The relations between Moscow and Washington have recently been overshadowed by tensions on specific issues that raised Russia's concern over its national security, in particular, over the US plans to deploy a missile base in Poland and a missile early-warning radar in the Czech Republic.

Before Ms Rice's visit to Moscow, Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Mikhail Kamynin reiterated that any discussion of European missile defence plans should involve all interested parties.

''We proceed from the assumption that questions of missile defence on the European continent should be considered in a collective format and meet the security interests of all European states,'' Kamynin said.

He urged the US to take a similar approach, saying Russia was also willing to discuss the issue in the framework of the Russia-NATO Council and during bilateral talks with Washington.

UNI