The United States said Monday it hopes to clinch a draft of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia by the end of December to replace the existing accord that expires Saturday.
"Our negotiators in Geneva… are working very hard to try and get a draft agreement," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "What we're saying now is that we're hoping to get this draft agreement by the end of December."
During a visit by US President Barack Obama to Moscow earlier this year, both sides called for a cut in the number of nuclear warheads in the Russian and US strategic arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years.
Kelly did not want to raise expectations that a new deal could be reached by Saturday's deadline but added: "I cannot rule that out because I know they're all working overtime to try and iron out the differences that remain."
US and Russian negotiators have met repeatedly in Geneva in recent months to thrash out a replacement for START, which imposes strict limits on the atomic arsenals of the two former Cold War foes.
A major obstacle to a deal was eliminated in September when the Obama administration announced it was scrapping a plan to deploy a missile shield in eastern Europe which was fiercely opposed by Russia.
But media reports in recent weeks have suggested that the talks have hit snags over the monitoring of Russian missiles and limits on the number of "carriers" capable of delivering nuclear warheads.
Kelly said, "two main priorities here are significant reductions in nuclear arsenals and also preserving the verifications and monitoring mechanisms that are at the heart of the START treaty."
Share This Article With Planet Earth
