The top US military officer met on Thursday with his Russian counterpart, discussing missile defence and the Syria crisis, amid tensions between Washington and Moscow on the issue, the Pentagon said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reiterated Moscow's strong opposition to the U.S. missile defence system on Tuesday, saying that President Barack Obama's re-election would not end the dispute and ins

A mechanism for Europe which will link together the missile defence assets from different allies under NATO command has been declared operational by the organisation.

Announced by the alliance 18 mo