Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Russia and the US are close to signing a new treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which expires Saturday 5 December, Russian news agency Ria Novosti reports late Friday, although it is unlikely the pact will be signed before the end of the year. The agency sites Russian military sources and says the two sides will meet again Saturday in Geneva. According to Ria Novosti, “The chief of the Russian General Staff said earlier that the ongoing talks had run into disagreements on inspection and verification procedures.”

US officials have been visiting a plant in Votkinsk, Russia, which manufactures ICBMs (intercontinental ballistic missiles), as part of a monitoring mission. The Russians say the US does not want such monitoring to end, while Russia argues that other monitoring measures could be implemented by both sides.

The two countries have released little information about the progress of the talks in Geneva this week. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov agreed when they met in Geneva in March 2009 to push hard to have a new treaty in place by the end of this year.

Background: BBC, GenevaLunch

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