By Liu Yifang

    MOSCOW, Dec. 16 (Xinhua) -- The year of 2007 has witnessed strained relations between Russia and the West caused by disputes over the U.S. missile defense plan in eastern Europe, Russia's withdrawal from the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, and Kosovo's status.

    MISSILE DEFENSE DISPUTE

    U.S. missile defense plans in eastern Europe, apparently the most divisive issue between Moscow and Washington, has brought their bilateral ties to the lowest point since the end of the Cold War.

    The United States announced its plans in January to deploy 10 missile interceptors in Poland and a missile defense radar in the Czech Republic, saying the plans were intended to stave off the threat of attacks from what it calls "rogue states."

    Moscow voiced strong opposition to the U.S. plan, considering it a threat to its national security, saying it would destroy the strategic balance of forces and result in an arm race.

    On Feb. 10 at the Munich security conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin openly slammed Washington's unilateralism, missile defense plans in eastern Europe as well as NATO's eastward expansion.

    In his state-of-the-nation address in late April, Putin proposed Russia to withdraw from the CFE treaty. Many analysts consider it a harsh response to U.S. missile defense plan in Europe.

    Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov has said that Russia would deploy missile systems in Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave located between Poland and Lithuania.

    Russia also resumed on Aug. 17 its long-distance patrol flights of strategic bombers, which were suspended in 1992 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

    To ease the tension with Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Moscow and initiated an October meeting on the missile defense issue, which involved foreign and defense ministers of the two countries.

    However, the two sides failed to narrow their differences, although they agreed to continue discussions at an expert level and resume the talks in six months.

    Observers said that although Washington still keeps its negotiations with Prague and Warsaw going while it is difficult for Russia to change its stance, both sides have shown some willingness to cooperate and are making efforts to avoid a possible breakdown of bilateral relations.

    With both Putin and his U.S. counterpart George W. Bush scheduled to leave office next year, this thorny dispute will be left to their successors.