US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrives in Russia today seeking to patch up a relationship strained by differences over Kosovo and missile defence.
Russian officials say they are preparing for calm and positive talks with Ms Rice on her two-day visit.
Buyt Moscow - flush with oil money and once again flexing its muscles as a world power just as Washington is mired in Iraq - warned that it would not be dictated to by its US visitor.
"We always call on our American partners to talk frankly and not try to force their point of view on others," Mikhail Kamynin, chief spokesman for the Russian foreign ministry, said. "What we need is not briefings but joint work and a joint search for solutions."
Dr Rice is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials. She is the most senior US official to visit Moscow since Mr Putin made a speech in Munich in February criticising Washington's foreign policy.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said after the speech it revived his memories of the Cold War and he warned against sliding back into that era.