MOSCOW, Nov. 13 (UPI) -- A number of longstanding, minor but still contentious issues remain like anti-personnel mines planted on the path toward better relations between Russia and the United States under the incoming Obama administration.

MOSCOW, Nov. 12 (UPI) -- The United States has elected its first African-American president, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. President-elect Obama will have little time to celebrate as he prepares to select his Cabinet and further lay out the country's policies for the next four years. Meanwhile, the current administration is leaving quite a legacy for Obama to deal with.

MOSCOW, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- There is a big difference between Russia and the United States in their nuclear weapons testing policies.

MOSCOW, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is all for a resumption of nuclear tests. In a key speech at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, he said the United States could not maintain deterrence, reduce arms or modernize them without tests.

MOSCOW, Nov. 3 (UPI) -- The "military summit" talks held in Helsinki, Finland, in October between the chiefs of staff of the Russian and U.S. armed forces had far-reaching implications.

MOSCOW, Oct. 31 (UPI) -- On Oct. 21, Adm. Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met with his Russian counterpart, Army Gen. Nikolai Makarov, at a mansion outside Helsinki, Finland.

MOSCOW, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- Ballistic and cruise missiles cannot be used against such adventurist and aggressive governments as the incumbent Georgian leadership. Reinforced general-purpose and rapid-deployment brigades are the most effective option for repelling conventional invasions and fighting insurgents and international terrorist units.

MOSCOW, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- On Oct. 14 Russian Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov announced plans to overhaul the national military establishment by 2012. However, many aspects of the proposed army reforms have yet to be clarified.

MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Commissioned officers in the Russian army are personally responsible for the fostering and training of subordinate soldiers. They lead attacks and organize defense and mobile dispersion. In peacetime, commissioned officers supervise day-to-day control of their subordinates' activity.