After talks with NATO defence ministers, Serdyukov suggested that Russia had not been convinced by proposals outlined Tuesday by US Defense Secretary Robert Gates to monitor new installations in the Czech Republic and Poland.

"All that has been proposed to us does not satisfy us, our position remains the same," he said, briefing Russian media after the talks in Noordwijk, the Netherlands. Other media were not permitted to attend.

But he said Washington was "beginning to better understand our concerns."

The United States is currently negotiating with Poland and the Czech Republic to base 10 interceptors and a radar, respectively, on their territories to deal with missile threats from "rogue states" like Iran.

But Moscow vehemently opposes the plan, fearing that the system could eventually be used against Russia, and is angered that its Cold War foe would base military hardware in what in Soviet times was its backyard.

To allay those fears, the United States has offered to allow Russian personnel to work at the installations, as well as a so-called "joint architecture", essentially a data sharing arrangement on missile threats.

Another idea would involve building the installations in Poland and the Czech Republic -- construction is meant to start next year -- but delaying the operational start-up in a bid to convince Moscow of their primary function.

"We would consider tying together the activation of the sites ... with definitive proof of the threat, in other words Iranian missile tests and so on," Gates said Tuesday.

Talking to reporters after the NATO-Russia talks, alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer urged Moscow to take its time in considering the proposals.

"I think that is a very substantial offer," he said.

"I can only hope ... that the Russian federation will continue this discussion with their American friends in a very constructive atmosphere and in a very constructive way."

French Defence Minister Herve Morin said the 26 NATO allies agreed that Iran does pose a threat with ballistic missiles but that they were not in complete agreement over when it would have the capacity to fire them long distances.

"On this point we need to sharpen up our own analyses, because we do not necessarily have the same analysis, not on the threat itself, but whether it is imminent," he said.

Serdyukov said Russia's objections also concerned the 1990 Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty, a key arms pact from which Moscow has threatened to withdraw or freeze on December 12.

It made the move in reaction to the failure of NATO members to ratify a revised 1999 version of the treaty.

The Russian lower house of parliament will discuss the issue on November 6.

Scheffer underlined that "the NATO allies consider this adapted CFE treaty ... as one of the cornerstones, if not the cornerstone, of European security."

"The allies and I would deplore very much if the Russian Federation would, at a certain stage, decide to suspend or leave the CFE treaty," he said.

NATO countries have said they would only ratify the CFE treaty once Moscow has lived up to a pledge made in 1999 to pull its troops out of former Soviet republics Georgia and Moldova.

Scheffer said that progress was being made in resolving the problem, and he urged the 26 NATO nations and Russia not to take any hasty action.

"Please don't make irreversible moves, don't do irreversible steps. Give this process a chance," he said.

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