GUATEMALA, July 3 (RIA Novosti) - Russian President Vladimir Putin described Tuesday the Russia-U.S. agreements on reducing strategic offensive arms to a minimum as a breakthrough.
"The Russian Foreign Minister and the U.S. Secretary of State continued discussions in Washington, and documents fixing our agreements on strategic offensive arms should be published later today," Putin said. "This is a breakthrough in terms of creating a safe and transparent world."
"I am satisfied with the tone of the discussions and the results we have achieved," the Russian leader said.
Putin said the parties had also reached agreements on the Iranian and Kosovo problems and missile defense.
In a statement published earlier Tuesday, Sergei Lavrov and Condoleezza Rice confirmed their countries' intention to reduce their strategic offensive arms to a minimal level and to develop relevant agreements.
The START I treaty was signed July 31, 1991, five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, and it expires December 5, 2009. It remains in force, as a treaty between the U.S. and Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have since totally disarmed their strategic arms capabilities, and the U.S. and Russia reduced the number of delivery vehicles to 1,600 units, with no more than 6,000 warheads.
