Russia's foreign minister said Saturday that relations with the United States are on a positive track under Barack Obama's administration, but warned that Moscow won't make any trade-offs like agreeing to increase pressure on Iran, AP reported Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is feeling a «cautious optimism» about relations with Washington. «We are satisfied with how our relations with the new U.S. administration are developing,» Lavrov said in a speech to a group of political scholars. «Mutual confidence was being eroded for a long period, and it will take time to rebuild it. But we are moving now in the right direction.» Russian-U.S. ties plummeted to their lowest point since the Cold War under George W. Bush's administration amid Moscow's protests over U.S. missile defense plans and other disputes. Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met in London last week and ordered negotiators into immediate action on a treaty to further reduce nuclear weapons. Russian officials have voiced hope that Obama will dump his predecessor's plan to deploy missile defense sites in Poland and the Czech Republic. Obama has not said how he intends to proceed with the missile shield, but has stressed the system must be cost-effective and proven.
