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MOSCOW HAILS US RELATIONSHIP MESSAGE

MOSCOW, FEBRUARY 7, RIA NOVOSTI - Moscow welcomes the latest series of US administration officials' pronouncements on the US-Russian relationship, the Russian Foreign Ministry Information and Press Department said in a statement.

The document highlights the latest series of public pronouncements of senior US administration officials over the past few days, including those of Secretary of State Colin Powell and US Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick, among others. These, the Foreign Ministry says, contain a positive assessment of the current state and prospects of US-Russian relations.

The remarks in question, noted the Foreign Ministry, emphasize Washington's intention to forge closer ties with Russia in all areas to make considerable progress ahead of the US-Russian summit in Moscow next May.

The Foreign Ministry then lauded what it saw as constructive elements in CIA Director George Tenet's testimony to the Senate Intelligence Committee on February 6. Tenet, among other things, singled out the stepped-up cooperation between the two countries "as the most impressive development of the year." In the same statement, he stressed the importance of US-Russian cooperation in the campaign against terrorism and other global threats.

This state of mind in the US administration fully fits with Russia's own approaches to developing relations with the US, the Foreign Ministry said. Moscow expects the upcoming meeting between the two presidents in Russia to solidify the bilateral shift toward mutually beneficial cooperation, making major deals, such as a legally binding agreement on sweeping cuts in strategic weapons, possible, the Foreign Ministry communique announced.

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