Russia says US slowing down nuclear 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.

Russia and the United States are "on the brink" of signing a new nuclear disarmament treaty, after resolving all outstanding issues, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Friday.Russian and US negotiators have been in intense talks to agree a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expired in December but have so far failed to reach a final accord."We are encouraged by progress on a new START treaty," Clinton said after talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Russia and the United States will sign a new nuclear disarmament treaty in early April in the Czech capital Prague, Russian daily newspaper Kommersant reported Saturday, citing a diplomatic source."The new nuclear disarmament treaty is ready," said the source, who talk part in Friday's talks between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the matter."The negotiators in Geneva are just matching up the formulations, given the nuances of Russian and English," the source added.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in Russia Thursday for crucial talks on clinching a new nuclear disarmament treaty between the Cold War foes and smoothing tensions in the Middle East.The 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) expired in December and negotiators have failed to agree a successor -- to the embarrassment of two powers keen to promote a "reset" in sometimes troubled relations.

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.

American and Russian negotiators resumed talks to reduce their nuclear weapons arsenals in the latest attempt to find a successor deal to the expired 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.

US Vice President Joe Biden on Friday warned Iran that opportunities for diplomacy over its disputed nuclear programme were not unlimited but offered direct talks between Washington and Tehran. In an interview with the German Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily, Biden said the "burden of proof" that Iran was not seeking a nuclear weapon lay with the authorities in Tehran.

US and Russian officials have reached agreement on the broad principles of a new nuclear disarmament deal to replace the 1991 START accord, Interfax quoted a Russian source as saying Friday."The positions of the new agreement on strategic weapons have been agreed (by negotiators in Geneva) and an official statement about this could be made soon," the news agency quoted a diplomatic source as saying.