Russian and U.S. diplomats will meet for another round of talks in Geneva on Monday, with experts on both sides optimistic about Moscow and Washington finally reaching the homestretch for a new strategic bilateral arms deal.
The presidents of Russia and the U.S., Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, agreed last July to cut nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
Medvedev said in late January that the new arms deal to replace the 1991 agreement which expired last December had been agreed 95%.
U.S. National Security Adviser General James Jones and Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, visited Moscow last week. According to informed sources in the Russian capital, the delegates held two days of closed-door talks with Russian defense officials led by General Nikolai Makarov, chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces, to discuss the exchange in telemetric data on strategic missiles allowing for their identification during launches.
MOSCOW, February 1 (RIA Novosti)
