MARRAKESH – Russia and the US are on track to sign a new deal to reduce their arsenals of nuclear weapons by the time a previous agreement expires next month, a Kremlin aide said at a policy conference in Morocco.
The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty known as Start-1 runs out on December 5th and negotiators have been working on a new detailed treaty.
US president Barack Obama and Kremlin chief Dmitry Medvedev agreed in July on the outlines of a deal to replace the landmark 1991 treaty but negotiators are still working through several technical issues.
“We are still optimistic about . . . signing a new agreement this year which will imply huge progress for the world in this matter,” Arkady Dvorkovich, a top adviser to Mr Medvedev, said at a World Policy Conference in Marrakesh. – (Reuters)