US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Moscow on Monday for talks with the Russian leadership, DPA reported. Rice immediately held talks behind closed doors with Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. According to sources, Rice is set to dine with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday evening, and is scheduled to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Rice had previously expressed concerns over the development of democracy in Russia and criticized the increasing concentration of power in the Kremlin. The Russian leadership also plans to discuss the controversial US defence missile deployment in Europe as well as tensions over the ratification of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.
