The treaty, which aims to control the numbers of nuclear weapons held by each country, was central to the thawing in relations between the former Cold War foes. Teams of negotiators from both countries have been hammering out a new pact over recent months in Switzerland. Clinton voiced confidence that a deal would be reached in the near future.

Hilary Clinton said, "We are making substantial progress on the new START treaty, that's the word from our negotiators in Geneva and the results from the latest negotiating rounds lead us to believe we will be reaching a final agreement soon."