OREANDA-NEWS. March 18, 2008. The meeting was also attended by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and U.S. Ambassador to Russia William Burns.

The meeting was held on the eve of the Russian-U.S. consultations in the “two plus two” format that provides for the participation of the heads of the foreign policy and military establishments of both countries. To be discussed are the problems with the ABM (Anti-Ballistic Missile) Treaty, the CFE (Conventional Armed Forces in Europe) Treaty and other issues of a global and regional character.

The “two plus two” format was created in 2002 as part of a Russian-American declaration on new strategic relations. The only session of the consultative group took place in September of that year.

In May 2007, a Russian initiative prompted an agreement to reopen this dialogue. After preliminary consultations between advisors, the first meeting between the President of Russia and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and U.S. Defense Minister Robert Gates was held on 12 October 2007.