Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov denied on Friday media reports that a new strategic arms reduction deal will not be signed before the old START pact expires next week.
"The document will be signed on the president's instruction, with reference to the timeframe he ordered," Lavrov said, adding that the agreement would be signed "as soon as [it] is ready."
Moscow and Washington are negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), the basis for Russian-U.S. strategic nuclear disarmament, which expires on December 5.
An outline of the new pact was agreed during the Russian and U.S. presidents' bilateral summit in Moscow in July and includes cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
START I commits the parties to reducing their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up strategic arms reduction agreement was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.
MINSK, November 27 (RIA Novosti)
