Russia, US to extend talks on nuclear arms pact

MOSCOW (Reuters) – The presidents of Russia and the  United States agreed yesterday to extend talks to secure a new  pact to cut vast arsenals of nuclear weapons, the Kremlin said yesterday.

US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart,  Dmitry Medvedev, agreed by telephone to continue work on finding  a successor to the Cold War-era START-1 treaty after “intensive  and purposeful” talks between their delegations in Geneva.

“The heads of state agreed to give the order to continue  active work and not to reduce the high level and tempo of  cooperation, with the aim of securing decisive agreements on all  issues,” the Kremlin said in a statement.

Washington and Moscow say finding a replacement for the 1991  Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the biggest agreed nuclear  weapons cut in history, would help “reset” relations after rows  in recent years.