WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Missile defense, an issue that has poisoned U.S.-Russia relations, could be a “game-changer” that transforms ties if the two sides cooperate on a shared system, says a report by former top officials from both sides of the Atlantic.

Recent headlines in both countries have been reminiscent of the Cold War, with the Russians threatening to deploy missiles aimed at countering a proposed U.S. missile shield, and the Americans responding that they will build the system, come what may.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration on Thursday played down Defense Secretary Leon Panetta’s comments that the United States could end its combat role in Afghanistan next year, remarks that surprised allies in Europe and Kabul, as well as U.S. lawmakers.

Panetta, who is meeting with fellow NATO defense chiefs in Brussels, said on Wednesday that U.S. troops in Afghanistan would step back from a fighting role in Afghanistan by mid- to late 2013. Instead, they would be in an “advise and assist” and training capacity, he said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers are steeling for a public battle against the possible transfer of Taliban detainees out of Guantanamo Bay prison, a key step in the Obama administration’s bid to broker a peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan.

Congressional opposition is gaining steam, especially among Republicans but also among some senior Democrats, to the potential transfer to Qatar of five senior Taliban prisoners, a good-faith move that could set the stage for eventual political talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. lawmakers are steeling for a public battle against the possible transfer of Taliban detainees out of Guantanamo Bay prison, a key step in the Obama administration’s bid to broker a peace deal ending the war in Afghanistan.

Congressional opposition is gaining steam, especially among Republicans but also among some senior Democrats, to the potential transfer to Qatar of five senior Taliban prisoners, a good-faith move that could set the stage for eventual political talks between the Taliban and Afghan government.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran is feeling the bite from economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, which is capable of producing a weapon although Iranian leaders have not yet decided to do so, top intelligence chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.

“The sanctions have been biting much, much more literally in recent weeks than they have until this time,” CIA Director David Petraeus said at a Senate intelligence committee hearing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Iran is feeling the bite from economic sanctions imposed over its nuclear program, which is capable of producing a weapon although Iranian leaders have not yet decided to do so, top U.S. intelligence chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.

“The sanctions have been biting much, much more literally in recent weeks than they have until this time,” CIA Director David Petraeus said at a Senate intelligence committee hearing.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Obama administration asked intelligence agencies for additional assessments of the risks of transferring five senior Taliban detainees to a third country as part of efforts to broker peace with Afghan militants, U.S. spy chiefs told Congress on Tuesday.

In testimony before the Senate Intelligence committee, the intelligence officials did not specify which country might be involved. But Reuters and other news agencies have reported that the detainees could be sent to the Gulf state of Qatar, which is acting as an intermediary in peace negotiations.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is looking at easing sanctions on Myanmar, but needs to see more democratic progress including a smooth April by-election before it can start unwinding decades of overlapping economic and political bans on the country, U.S. lawmakers said on Tuesday.

U.S. officials have said they are encouraged by Myanmar’s reforms thus far, which have included the release of hundreds of political prisoners and spurred the European Union and Australia to begin easing their own sanctions.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – It was New Year’s Eve when President Barack Obama reluctantly signed into law the legislation he had earlier threatened to veto: a mammoth U.S. defense bill with a multitude of restrictions on the administration’s handling of detainees.

Administration officials had spent weeks trying to rewrite the legislation in Congress. And although Obama signed it into law, he also issued a lengthy, at times indignant, “signing statement” listing the many ways he disagreed with the measure, and suggesting he may even ignore parts of it.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A Republican senator on Tuesday questioned President Barack Obama’s commitment to new sanctions on Iran’s central bank, noting the president had claimed the right to sidestep some of the requirements when he signed them into law last week.

In a statement issued as he signed a defense bill into law on Saturday, Obama said several provisions including the sanctions that target Iran’s central bank “would interfere with my constitutional authority to conduct foreign relations.”