Russia and the United States are close to signing a new arms reduction treaty, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.
After Friday's meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Clinton said Russian and U.S. negotiators had come to an agreement on all the main issues of the new treaty.
However she did not specify when the deal would be signed.
Russia and the United States have been negotiating a replacement to START 1 since the two countries' presidents met in April last year, but finalizing a document has dragged on, with U.S. plans for missile defense in Europe a particular sticking point.
During their April meeting, Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed that the link between offensive and defensive weapons should be taken into account and Lavrov said on Friday that the issue was being discussed.
"During their work in Geneva, our delegations took into account these instructions from the presidents, among other things," Lavrov said.
Russia has repeatedly said that a new nuclear arms cuts deal should be linked to Washington's missile defence plans in Europe.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1), the backbone of post-Cold War arms control, expired on December 5, 2009.
BARVIKHA, March 19 (RIA Novosti)
