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Russia, U.S. may continue arms reduction talks next week

RIA Novosti

15:2508/07/2009 MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti) - A new round of strategic arms reduction talks between Russia and the United States could begin as early as next week, a senior Russian lawmaker said on Wednesday.

Three rounds of comprehensive talks have already been held on drafting a new nuclear arms reduction pact to replace the START 1 treaty, which expires on December 5.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama signed an agreement on Monday outlining the provisions of the final treaty, including cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

"I spoke with the head of the U.S. team, Rose Gottemoeller, and she confirmed that the new round could start as early as next week... so that we might be able to adopt a new document by December 5," Konstantin Kosachev, the head of parliament's International Affairs Committee, said on Vesti TV news channel.

The START 1 treaty obliges Russia and the United States to reduce nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up agreement on strategic offensive arms reduction was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.

"Theoretically, the document could be signed in October-November, and ratified by the federal assembly in December," Kosachev said, adding that prolonging START 1 beyond its agreed end would be undesirable.

"By extending an obsolete agreement we would send negative signals to each other and to the rest of the world, and that is why we are focusing our efforts on adopting a new document before the deadline," he said.

According to a report published by the U.S. State Department in April, as of January 1 Russia had 3,909 nuclear warheads and 814 delivery vehicles, including ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers.

The same report said the United States had 5,576 warheads and 1,198 delivery vehicles.