US: "Productive" nuclear arms reductions talks with Russia

Jun 4, 2009, 11:26 GMT

Geneva - A senior United States official, engaged in nuclear arms reduction talks with Russia, said Wednesday that the negotiations under way were productive.

'We have been here in Geneva for the past three days with the United States delegation, engaged in productive talks with our Russian counterparts, working towards a START follow-on agreement,' said Rose Gottemoeller, the Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

Gottemoeller led talks in the Swiss city with Russian counterparts on finding a successor to the cold war era Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty (START), which expires in December. The Geneva round came on the heels of the first session held last month in Moscow.

Addressing the Conference on Disarmament at the United Nations Office in Geneva, the under-secretary said the US 'finish line' was 'the peace and security of a world free of nuclear weapons,' echoing statements of President Barack Obama.

Few details are expected to be released on progress in the talks until US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev meet in Moscow on July 6.

The new American administration has been pushing to 'reset' its relations with Moscow.

Russian officials have said they want the disarmament talks to extend beyond nuclear weapons.

The negotiations should include, they said, a deal for the US to scrap the controversial missile defence shield plans for eastern Europe that the previous administration laid out and which Moscow opposes.