"I understood from talking to Russian counterparts that the offer is still on the table," said Gottemoeller, the assistant secretary of state for verification and compliance.

"I think personally that it is an offer the United States should be willing to explore," said the diplomat, in comments confirmed by the State Department in Washington.

"At the time I lived in Moscow, when I was director of Carnegie Moscow, I thought that the offer was very interesting. And I think it deserves further exploration," she added.

Back in 2007, Russia proposed sharing the radar facility to the previous US administration under George W. Bush.

The offer was made to try to head of US plans to install an anti-ballistic missile system in Poland and the Czech Republic, which Russia considers a threat to its own security.

But Bush did not follow up on the offer.

President Barack Obama has however held out the possibility of renewing dialogue with Russia on a number of questions, from nuclear disarmament to the US missile shield to which Russia is so fiercely opposed.

Russia leased the radar station from Azerbaijan, a former Soviet republic, in a deal signed in 1991 after the break-up of the Soviet Union.

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