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US-Russia START talks 'nearly complete:' White House
Washington (AFP) Jan 27, 2010 The United States said Wednesday that talks with Russia on a new nuclear arms pact were "nearly complete" after a telephone call between presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev. US and Russian negotiators have been locked in talks for months over a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expired in December, and which was first agreed in 1991. "Earlier today, president Obama spoke with president Medvedev of Russia to thank him for his hard work and leadership on the new START treaty negotiations," the White House said in a statement. "The two sides have made steady progress in recent weeks. "The presidents agreed that negotiations are nearly complete, and pledged to continue the constructive contacts that have advanced US-Russian relations over the last year." In Moscow, the Kremlin press service said the two leaders "voiced satisfaction with the significant progress achieved during recent talks in Moscow and agreed to direct their delegations to complete the document's technical preparation as soon as possible." It added that the discussion covered "several international issues" in "a constructive and friendly spirit that became customary for these top-level contacts". On Sunday, Medvedev said that negotiations were going well, with the two sides in agreement on "95 percent of the issues." The broad outlines of the new treaty have been clear since a summit in July, when Obama and Medvedev agreed that the replacement treaty should slash the number of warheads on either side to between 1,500 and 1,675. The presidents also agreed that the number of carriers capable of delivering the warheads should be limited to between 500 and 1,100. The United States has said it currently has some 2,200 nuclear warheads, while Russia is believed to have about 3,000. The State Department said on Tuesday that negotiators from the two countries would meet on Monday in Geneva as they try to wrap up the START talks. burs-sah/dk
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