MOSCOW, July 6 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. President Barack Obama arrived in an overcast Moscow on Monday on his first visit to Russia since his victory in November's presidential elections.
Obama is accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and his two daughters, Malia and Sasha. The U.S. leader is due to begin his three-day visit to Russia by laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier near the Kremlin wall.
He will then hold talks with his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, before meeting Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Talks are set to focus on strategic arms reduction.
Obama is also expected to meet with opposition politicians, businessmen and public figures, including former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during his July 6-8 visit to the Russian capital.
Meanwhile, according to a Russian Foreign Ministry source, Russian and U.S. experts are putting the finishing touches to a framework strategic arms reductions agreement.
The current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was signed before the Soviet Union's breakup in 1991, and expires in December this year
"The text is in the final stages. Expert consultations on the START Treaty are nearing completion," the source said, adding that the results of the negotiations would be reported to the two presidents, who would then make a public announcement.
The Kremlin earlier said the document would set out guidelines for further work on the draft treaty to replace the START 1.
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.
Russia, which proposed a new arms reduction agreement in 2005, expects Washington to agree on a deal that would restrict not only the numbers of nuclear warheads, but also place limits on all existing kinds of delivery vehicles.
Moscow insists that discussions on a new arms reduction deal with Washington should be linked to U.S. plans for a missile shield in Central Europe.
Obama's visit is part of a much-trumpeted attempt by the U.S. to "reset" relations with Russia, damaged in recent years by last August's Russia-Georgia war, NATO expansion and Washington's plans for a missile defense system in Central Europe.
In an interview with Russia's Vesti channel broadcast on Saturday, Obama turned on the charm, speaking of his love for Russia's writers, in particular national poet Alexander Pushkin and Fyodor Dostoyevsky, as well as Leo Tolstoy's epic novel War and Peace.
