Russian and U.S. diplomats held a second session of a bilateral working group on arms control and international security on Monday to discuss joint efforts in nuclear non-proliferation, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The meeting was attended by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and U.S. Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Ellen Tauscher and focused on the forthcoming 2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference to be held in late May 2010 in Vienna.

"In addition, issues of further reduction of strategic nuclear weapons and measures to counteract the proliferation of nuclear technologies were also discussed," the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the core of Russian-U.S. nuclear disarmament, expired on Saturday. Officials in Moscow and Washington expressed the hope that the document would be signed by yearend.

The working group on arms control and international security is one of the 13 working groups of the Russian-U.S. presidential commission, established by the leaders of the two states during their July summit in Moscow.

The group's first session was held in the Russian capital in October.

MOSCOW, December 7 (RIA Novosti)