The Bush administration's controversial national missile defence system was at the centre of talks between the US Secretary of State, Mr Colin Powell, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Igor Ivanov, in Rome yesterday.
The two ministers had a two-hour bilateral meeting in Rome's central Excelsior Hotel before attending a Group of Eight (G8) pre-summit gathering of foreign ministers ahead of this weekend's Genoa summit.
Speaking after a meeting described by both sides as "productive and friendly", Mr Powell and Mr Ivanov confirmed that their talks would continue next week in Hanoi on the margins of an international conference.
Mr Ivanov repeated Russian concerns about the intended US missile defence shield, telling reporters: "We discussed strategic stability questions in general without going into specific details. It would be dangerous to make decisions about individual issues, without a clear overall picture of strategic stability. Our talks will continue and we will soon have a fuller picture of the situation, something we will much appreciate."
Mr Powell told reporters that not only Russia but also the European allies of the US will soon be in a much better position to judge US intentions since the White House will shortly be presenting a detailed missile defence proposal to Congress. Asked if he considered recent US missile tests a violation of the current Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty between the two countries, Mr Ivanov declined to comment.
In relation to the Middle East crisis, both ministers repeated their governments' views that international observers could not be sent to the area until such time as both Israel and the Palestinians had agreed to such a proposal. The situation in Macedonia also featured in the talks with both men expressing their "concern" at recent developments, prompted by incursions into Macedonia by Kosovo-based Albanian fighters.
Many of the issues discussed by the US and Russian delegations yesterday will feature in this weekend's three-day G8 summit in Genoa.
The countdown to the summit remained tense yesterday following a letter bomb attack on the news desk of TV station, Rete 4, owned by the Italian Prime Minister, Mr Silvio Berlusconi.
Ms Cristina Pastormelo, secretary to the station's wellknown anchor man, Emilio Fede, was slightly injured when opening a package containing an explosive VHS tape. A second letter burst into flames when it was opened in the headquarters of the Benetton clothing firm in the northeastern city of Treviso. No one was hurt.
The attacks come two days after a police officer suffered serious injuries to face and hands after opening a letter bomb sent to a Genoa police station.
No one has claimed responsibility for either attack but police investigators are convinced that they are the work of minority elements on the fringe of the anti-globalisation movement, due to protest in massive numbers at Genoa.
With more than 60 false alarms and with nearly 700 people turned back at the Italian border in recent days, the tense atmosphere in Genoa was further heightened yesterday by the erection of huge police barriers, sealing off the area around the central Palazzo Ducale, seat of the summit.
One young Irish protester, Mr Rob Herson from Cork, was caught up in the tense atmosphere, being detained by police on Tuesday for six hours after he was spotted trying to buy a gas mask.