US National Security Adviser James Jones stressed the White House's desire for friendly relations with Moscow as he met Russian officials on Thursday for nuclear disarmament talks.

Jones, a retired US general, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov that President Barack Obama remained committed to improving ties with Moscow that have been badly strained in recent years.

"I would like to... on behalf of President Obama, reassure you and your colleagues that the path that US and Russian relations are on right now is one that's full of promise and potential," Jones said.

"We want to do everything we can to bring that good state of affairs to a conclusion," Jones added, at a meeting that also included the top US and Russian negotiators working on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START).

Washington and Moscow have been seeking to agree a replacement for START, a landmark 1991 treaty that led to steep cuts in the two countries' nuclear arsenals, before it expires on December 5.

Lavrov told Jones that "only the most intense work" would allow the two former Cold War foes to reach a deal on START by that deadline.

A deal on START would mark a major foreign policy success for Obama and would boost his stated vision of a world free of atomic weapons.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman, Andrei Nesterenko, said after the Jones meeting that the talks had been "successful."

"We are certain that Mr Jones' visit will help the successful conclusion of the Geneva talks within the timeframe established by the presidents of Russia and the United States, before December 5," Nesterenko told reporters.

Besides START, Jones discussed the Iranian nuclear programme and the war in Afghanistan with Russian officials, Nesterenko said.

"On the whole we view Mr Jones' visit as successful and within the course of giving a new dynamic to Russian-US relations," he added.

During his time in Moscow, Jones also met the secretary of Russia's national security council, Nikolai Patrushev, and the Kremlin's top foreign policy advisor, Sergei Prikhodko, the spokesman said.

US-Russian ties hit a post-Cold War low during the previous administration of George W. Bush amid disputes over issues such as missile defence and last year's Russia-Georgia war.

Ties have warmed under Obama, who vowed to "reset" the relationship, but Moscow and Washington still have differences over key matters such as how the international community should respond to Iran's nuclear programme.

Russia is also hesitant about the new missile defence plan unveiled by the Obama administration last month, which replaced a Bush-era plan to place anti-missile facilities in Poland and the Czech Republic.

The Obama administration plan -- for a more mobile missile shield that would initially be sea-based -- is not well understood by Moscow, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in a newspaper interview.

"We do not fully understand the future qualitative and geographic parameters of this new missile defence system... A complex and long discussion is needed before we can draw any conclusions," he told the Vremya Novostei daily.

Ryabkov added that Russia does not see eye-to-eye with the United States on the ultimate purpose of missile defence, which Washington says is needed to protect against the threat of missile strikes from Iran.

"We cannot come together with the Americans on how real the need for missile defence methods will be after N number of years," Ryabkov said.