MOSCOW (Xinhua) -- The recent talks with U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld helped make clear the two countries' stands on many international security issues, Russia Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said on Tuesday. The Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as speaking to reporters in the Far East city of Anadyr that "My meeting with Donald Rumsfeld helped make the two countries' positions clearer on several international security and strategic stability issues."

Talks between Ivanov and Rumsfeld were held Monday in Fairbanks, Alaska.

"The main thing is that our relations in military and international security issues become a bit more predictable and transparent," Ivanov said.