Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that the United States may be ready to soften its position over plans to intall a missile defence shield in central Europe against Moscow's wishes.
"The latest contacts with the Americans demonstrate that a certain change in their point of view is possible," Putin said in an interview with Iranian media during a visit to Tehran.
"We will continue our dialogue," he said.
Russia last week called for a freeze in the US project to deploy a missile-tracking radar in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in Poland.
The United States says the system is needed to guard against hypothetical threats from Iran or North Korea, while Russia says the shield would threaten its own missile force.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Saturday that she and Secretary of Defence Robert Gates had made new offers during their visit to Moscow on Friday and Saturday.
"We have put some new proposals on the table at the conceptual level. And if Russia is indeed seeking cooperation, not confrontation, then these proposals should deal with their stated concern, and we'll see," Rice said.
