-- Mr. Burns, in Russia and Europe it is sometimes said - and this was clearly heard in President Vladimir Putin's Munich speech - that America has used its policies to create a kind of unipolar world, tailored to suit itself. Would you disagree?

-- I do not agree with how the question is phrased. US policy certainly hasn't created what you perceive as a "unipolar world." This is the work of history. The communist world collapsed, the Soviet Union fell apart. I don't wish to seem arrogant, but we have to be objective. My country has become the world's most powerful country in all respects: military, economic, and political. Our duty is to use this strength responsibly and in harmony with others. We have never set a foreign policy goal of creating a world ruled solely by the United States. No one has done this - not Clinton, not Bush, not Reagan before them.

Americans understand that strength - let alone the strength of one country - cannot always win in a complex, interdependent world torn by transnational problems and the dark sides of globalization: climate change, organized crime, human trafficking, drugs, terrorism, WMD proliferation. One country cannot cope. Therefore, American society, the government, and the political class want to cooperate with others. We value allies.

-- Have you brought a foreign policy message for the Europeans?
-- US foreign policy in Europe for 2007 has two priorities: completing the Balkans stabilization process, and improving relations with Russia.

-- But how do you mean to improve relations with Russia?
-- We need to attain a balance of interests with your country. Russia and the USA are partners, indisputably, with regard to two of the most important problems, from the American point of view: the war on terrorism, and WMD non-proliferation efforts. President Putin was the first to call President Bush after the events of September 11, and we haven't forgotten that.

We are very happy with our cooperation with the Russian government on the North Korean and Iranian nuclear problems - especially in February and March, when we managed to achieve a breakthrough on North Korea. It's important to convince the North Koreans to shut down their nuclear program completely and comply with the September 2005 agreement. It is also important to make the Iranians believe that we really do want them to use nuclear energy for civilian purposes, but we don't want Iran to become a military nuclear power.

-- To what extent are bilateral relations affected by American criticism of Russia's domestic development and Russia's relations with its neighbors?
-- The wish to cooperate doesn't remove all problems in relations between us. We resolutely disagree with the very harsh speech that President Putin made in Munich, and we tell the Russians without any false political correctness about what we see as backsliding on democracy in Russia, especially in the area of media freedom. We are sometimes concerned about what Russia does or does not do to resolve conflicts along its own borders, and how it behaves toward the Baltic states, Georgia, and Moldova.

In our view, Russia has failed to fulfill its Istanbul obligations [withdrawing Russian troops and bases from Georgia and Trans-Dniester - editor] for far too long. But this doesn't mean that we should freeze relations or stop talking to each other. We have open relations and discuss this regularly at all levels. We shall try to overcome the problems, because Russia is a fundamental interest for the United States. It is an important country for the balance of power in Europe, and for the success of what we Americans wish to do in the international arena. So we choose to cooperate with Russia and we shall try to solve any problems as they arise.

-- The Europeans believe that it's easier for them to reach agreement with Democrats in the United States than with Republicans. So perhaps the changing of the guard in the White House will solve the problem?
-- I'm neither a Republican nor a Democrat. I'm not a politician. Thus, I can say without any bias at all that our country has a consensus: America cannot live alone in the world - we need allies, friends, alliances. We shall build them, not
fearing even major differences. President Bush and Condoleezza Rice have made great efforts to rebuild our ties with Europe [after the occupation of Iraq - editor]. President Bush's first visit abroad after his inauguration in 2005 was a visit to Brussels. America has made it clear that it wants a close relationship with the European Union.

-- But don't you think that in the wake of Iraq, the missile defense problem will be the next cause of friction - not only with Russia, but with US allies in Europe as well?

-- With regard to missile defense, I think that current misunderstandings can be resolved by dialogue and common sense. This system is defensive, not offensive. It does not pose a threat to any country, least of all Russia. In the long term, it provides protection from those who may attempt to destabilize peace in Europe in the future. We started talking about missile defense in NATO back in 2002-03, when I was the US permanent representative to NATO. We realized that NATO lacked consensus on building a missile defense system, but we had an agreement with some of our allies, including some in Central and Eastern Europe.

So we decided to work with them on building the system. I think that the answers to questions raised by particular countries can be found through calm dialogue. Russia has a number of questions. We are engaged in intensive dialogue with the Russian government. It seems that this misunderstanding won't be easy to resolve, but I will try. A NATO meeting, including experts, is scheduled for April 19.

Looking at future threats, any right-minded person should take account of the technological progress being made by some radical states like Iran. They could acquire long-range ballistic missile technologies, and make a technological breakthrough with chemical and nuclear weapons. Iran is striving to do that. That is why the UN Security Council has imposed sanctions on Iran. This is a future threat to Europe. On the other hand, ten interceptor missile cannot affect Russia's defense capacities. So we are prepared to discuss the missile defense system, and we expect the discussion to be productive.