MOSCOW, October 12 (RIA Novosti) - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrives in Moscow on Monday for a three-day official visit to discuss bilateral as well as international key-issues.
The high-ranking U.S. official is scheduled to meet with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other Russian officials.
Lavrov and Clinton are expected to discuss a new treaty on strategic offensive armaments, to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which expires on December 5.
President Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed in July in Moscow on the outline of a deal to replace the START-1 treaty, including cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
The START-1 treaty obliges Russia and the U.S. 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.
Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said earlier that Lavrov and Clinton, as coordinators of the Russian-American presidential commission, also intend to discuss "aspects of its structure and effectiveness" and to "outline the schedule for bilateral contacts."
The talks on the Clinton's visit agenda will also touch on Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, and the Middle East peace process.
