Russian President Vladimir Putin said this evening said Washington's decision to quit the 1972 ABM missile treaty was a mistake but signalled he wanted to keep Moscow's warming relations with Washington on track.
In his first comments on the confirmation by President George W. Bush that the US would pull out of the accord in six months, Mr Putin said in an address to the nation that the long-heralded move posed no threat to Russian security.
"The US leadership spoke of this several times and such a step is not unexpected for us. However we think such a step is mistaken," a somber Mr Putin said.
"Russia had long possessed the means to overcome missile defences," he said: "Therefore I fully believe that the decision taken by the President of the United States does not pose a threat to the national security of the Russian Federation."
He later spoke to Jiang Zemin, leader of fellow nuclear power China, agreeing on the need for stability.
In western Europe, nuclear powers Britain and France were cautious in their responses to Bush's move.
In Brussels, the European Union had no official comment. But a senior EU diplomatic source said EU foreign policy chief Mr Javier Solana had discussed the issue with Germany's Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer. It was unlikely to be raised at an EU summit starting tomorrow because Europe was too divided, the source said.
"What we are seeing is a new peak of US unilateralism again," the source said. "It is worrying."
The hope that the U.S. was turning back towards multilateralism after September 11 is being dashed.