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Russia welcomes Biden’s softer line

Russia yesterday welcomed an offer by the US “to press the reset button” on relations with Moscow,in a sign the former Cold War rivals could repair ties under US President Barack Obama.US Vice-President Joe Biden said in a speech to the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday that it was time to end a dangerous drift in ties between Washington and Moscow.Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov applauded that message ahead of a meeting with Biden yesterday,the first high- level face-to-face between the US and Russia since Obama took office last month.Ivanov described Biden’s speech as “very positive”.Ties between Russia and the US have grown increasingly strained in recent years.Russia’s brief war with Georgia last year and its recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia were sharply condemned by the US.The US voiced regret at Russia’s latest plans to set up military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia,saying it violated cease-fire agreements between Moscow and Tbilisi.Moscow reacted furiously to former president George Bush’s plans to deploy parts of a missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic — a policy the new administration intends to follow