MOSCOW, Feb 13: The United States is ready to look at re-modelling its missile defence plans to include Moscow, a senior US diplomat said on Friday in a concession to Russian opposition.

The Kremlin has been pressing Washington to give ground on the proposed missile shield in exchange for Russia helping supply the US-led military campaign in Afghanistan — a priority for President Barack Obama.

Washington and Moscow have in the past discussed a compromise deal that would give Russia a role in the US shield but those talks petered out in the last days of the previous US administration.

“(Washington is) open to the possibility of cooperation, both with Russia and Nato partners, in relation to a new configuration for missile defence which would use the resources that each of us have,” Interfax news agency quoted US Undersecretary of State William Burns as saying.

The US embassy in Moscow confirmed the text of the interview.

Burns, a former ambassador to Moscow, was in Russia this week for talks with officials.

Burns gave no details on what form the new missile defence configuration might take, but the wording he used appeared to go further than previous US proposals aimed at easing Russia’s concerns.

Russia’s ambassador to Nato, Dmitry Rogozin, said in an interview that Moscow would have to wait to see how Washington follows up on Burns’ remarks.

—Reuters