Russia and the United States have held a new round of talks in Moscow on a new document to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), missile defense in Europe and issues of non-proliferation.
"We managed to finish our joint work with the outgoing U.S. administration with satisfactory results and to build a definite base for continuing work next year, bearing in mind that we need to draft a legally binding agreement to replace the START-1 treaty and find a compromise on the U.S. missile shield in Europe by the end of next year," Sergei Ryabkov told a news conference after the talks.
The current START-1 treaty expires in December 2009.
Ryabkov said both sides had so far failed to reach a breakthrough on key issues of the discussion, but agreed to continue talks after U.S. president-elect Barack Obama takes office in January.
"We certainly hope that the effectiveness of this dialogue with the new U.S. administration will increase," the diplomat said.
The existing START-1 treaty was signed by Moscow and Washington on July 31, 1991, five months before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Belarus, Kazakhstan and Ukraine have since disposed of all their nuclear weapons or transferred them to Russia, and the U.S. and Russia have reduced the number of delivery vehicles to 1,600 each, with no more than 6,000 warheads.
Moscow has repeatedly stated that signing a new nuclear disarmament deal will only be possible if Washington abandons its plans to place elements of a U.S. missile shield in Central Europe.
Russia also insists that any agreement replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty should be a legally binding document and must set lower ceilings not only for the number of nuclear warheads, but also for their delivery vehicles.
