Clinton in Russia for nuclear, Middle East talks

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was holding talks on Thursday in Moscow to accelerate progress towards a new accord between Russia and the United States to slash their nuclear arsenals.Clinton met her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for talks set to focus strongly on the increasingly protracted process of agreeing a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expired in December.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was holding talks on Thursday in Moscow to accelerate progress towards a new accord between Russia and the United States to slash their nuclear arsenals.Clinton met her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for talks set to focus strongly on the increasingly protracted process of agreeing a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expired in December.

US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev have agreed that Washington and Moscow are close to reaching agreement on a new nuclear disarmament treaty, the Kremlin said.US and Russian negotiators have been meeting in Geneva to discuss a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a landmark Cold War-era nuclear arms pact which expired in December.In a telephone conversation on Saturday, both presidents "expressed satisfaction with the highly advanced state of preparations" for the new accord, the Kremlin said in a statement.

Russia on Thursday accused the United States of slowing down talks on a new nuclear weapons disarmament treaty, after officials admitted the two sides could no longer sign the accord this year.US and Russian officials have been holding intense talks in Geneva on replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty which led to deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals but expired on December 5 without a replacement."In the past couple of days we have noted a slowdown in the positions of the US negotiators in Geneva," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama could sign a new deal on cutting nuclear arsenals in Europe next week, a newspaper report said on Friday.The new agreement -- the successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expired on December 5 -- could be signed by the two leaders on December 18-19 in a European capital, the Vedomosti newspaper reported.

Russia was due Friday to give initial approval to a historic nuclear arms pact with the United States that opens the way for the former Cold War foes' cooperation on everything from Afghanistan to Iran.The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that was passed after a months-long political battle by the US Senate on Wednesday has been the centerpiece of Washington's efforts to "reset" lagging relations with Moscow.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton launched a landmark nuclear arms reduction pact with Russia on Saturday, a showpiece of Washington's "reset" of ties with its former Cold War enemy.The new START nuclear arms reduction treaty officially came into force when Clinton and Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov exchanged ratification documents at a security conference in the German city of Munich."Today we exchange the instruments of ratification for a treaty that lessens the nuclear danger facing the Russian and American people and the world," Clinton said.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Wednesday called for the US Senate to vote now on a landmark nuclear arms treaty with Russia as Republicans threaten to block ratification efforts."We can and we must go forward," Clinton said as she made a rare visit to Congress to push for the pact to be approved by US lawmakers."This treaty is ready to be voted on by the United States Senate," she said.Republican foes have threatened to block any effort to ratify the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) in the year-end "lame duck" session.