Russia and the United States are “95 percent” agreed on the terms of a disarmament treaty that would see the two largest nuclear powers each reduce their stockpile of nuclear warheads to between 1,500 and 1,675. The treaty would also reduce the number of vehicles capable of carrying these warheads to between 500 and 1,100.
“Everything in negotiations is going fine, 95 percent of the new deal’s issues have been agreed upon,” said Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, according to Russian news agencies on Sunday.
U.S. President Barrack Obama and President Medvedev have been in discussions since July concerning the establishment of a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1); which was signed in 1991, just before the breakup of the U.S.S.R., and expired on December 5 of last year.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday that he expects an agreement to be reached soon once negotiations resume at the beginning of February.
Despite the progress being made between the former Cold War foes, President Medvedev made it clear yesterday that U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe still remains an unresolved issue.