U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev exchange agreements during the signing ceremony in Moscow, capital of Russia, July 6, 2009. Obama and Medvedev signed a joint statement on anti-missile issue and a new arms reduction agreement here on Monday. [Lu Jinbo/Xinhua]

Yet the two sides still disagree over the US pursuit of a missile-defense system in Europe. The system was pushed aggressively by former US President George W. Bush and is still under review by Obama's administration.

Medvedev called it "a difficult area for discussion," but suggested that the new openness between the two countries could help.

Dmitry Medvedev, Russian President, said, "The problem of the third missile defense site is a rather complex subject for our discussion. Yet I would like to draw attention to what has just been said by President Obama. And I would also like to stress the document of joint understanding that we have just signed. It draws a link between offensive and defensive weapons. This is a step forward. Only recently, we had total disagreement on this issue."

Obama repeated the US position that the planned system is aimed at intercepting missiles from Iran. He added that it has nothing to do with countering what he called "a mighty Russian arsenal," as many in Russia suspect.

The two leaders also announced several other deals meant to show progress toward resetting US-Russian relations.

Those included Russia allowing the US to transport arms across its land and airspace into Afghanistan for military efforts there. They also outlined other ways to work together to help stabilize the war-torn country.

(CCTV July 7, 2009)