Russia, U.S. close to new START agreement
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Visiting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that Russia and the United States were "close" to settle an agreement on strategic arms reduction in the nearest future.
"We are close to an accord concerning all the issues" of the negotiation to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), Medvedev said after a meeting with his French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy at Elysee Palace in the afternoon.
"We are already working on the details of the text. I hope our discussion will lead to a conclusion in the nearest future," the Russian president added at the joint press conference with Sarkozy.
Russia and the United States last year began talks on a replacement of START-1 but failed to reach agreement before the expiration of the pact on Dec. 5 last year.
Earlier Monday, the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the two countries have made "considerable progress" in talks on the new agreement.
The two countries agreed to continue official negotiations on March 9 after the latest round of talks ended in Geneva on Feb. 27, the Russian ministry said.
An outline of the new arms deal, agreed to by Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama last July, includes each country cutting its number of nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675.
Medvedev began his two-day visit to France on Monday. Under the banner of inaugurating the Crossing Russia-France Culture Exchange Year, the president-headed high-profile delegation aims more to strings of political, economic and military deals with France.
He is expected to meet with French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and inaugurate the "Saint Russia" special exhibition at Louvre Museum on Tuesday.
