In Shanghai, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell will be meeting with his Russian and Chinese counterparts on the sidelines of the meeting of the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members. Missile defense and nuclear proliferation issues will be on the agenda.
Secretary Powell says his talks with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov in the evening Thursday will once again deal with U.S. plans for a national missile defense system.
Mr. Powell says he does not expect any final resolution of their differences over the strategic framework issues but says the talks in Shanghai should help move the process along. President George Bush meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin this weekend during the APEC summit.
Secretary Powell's talks with Chinese officials will go over what Beijing needs to do to comply with an agreement reached last year to discourage its military technology transfers to Pakistan. Until Beijing complies with the export controls, Washington will not waive sanctions against satellite sales to China. So far, Mr. Powell says he sees little progress.