DTN News: Russia Says Next START Talks Due By Early September

DTN News: Russia Says Next START Talks Due By Early September

*Source: DTN News / Int'l Media

(NSI News Source Info) MOSCOW, Russia - July 26, 2009: The Russian Foreign Ministry has announced that the next round of talks with the United States on arms cuts is due by early September in Geneva.

A statement from the ministry on Saturday said both sides had reached an agreement but did not confirm an exact date for the meeting, saying it was most likely to take place at the end of August or in early September.

Russian and American officials agreed to continue the talks on a new strategic arms reduction treaty to replace START 1 after a round of talks, which ended in Geneva on Friday.

President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, signed an agreement on July 6, outlining the basic elements of the final treaty Both sides have pledged to drastically cut their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and their delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

Moscow has linked progress in the talks for a new 10-year agreement to concessions on Washington's unpopular plans for an anti-missile defense system in two ex-Soviet republics in Eastern Europe.

The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty expires in December.