Washington, D.C. ? U.S. and Russian diplomats plan to meet Thursday in Hungary to discuss cooperation on a missile defense system.

Leading the U.S. delegation at the meeting in Budapest will be John C. Rood, the secretary of state for arms control and international security. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak will head the Russian contingent.

The United States will continue to discuss its ideas for cooperating with Russia on a missile defense system that President Bush wants to deploy in former Soviet satellite nations in Eastern Europe, according to a State Department announcement Saturday.