Dragging their feet?

Russia has accused the United States of dragging its feet in talks on a new nuclear weapons treaty between the former cold war enemies.

The sides have been talking in Geneva about a replacement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which was signed in 1991. The agreement led to both powers reducing their nuclear arsenals by more than half, but a replacement is overdue.

US officials said they were confident that a new deal could be signed before the end of year.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the US of slowing down its negotiations, adding that Russia is eager to sign a deal.

"In the past couple of days we have noted a slowdown in the positions of the US negotiators in Geneva," said Lavrov. "They explain this by the need to receive additional instructions. But our team is ready for work."

"Too much suspicion"

Lavrov dismissed reports that the treaty would be signed in Copenhagen and said it was designed to "get rid of excessive suspiciousness" between the countries. In particular, he said, strict verification procedures under the former treaty could be made "less complicated and less costly."

Washington said discussions were "making good progress", but that the US was only interested in a deal that satisfied both parties.

"We're going to work on this agreement until we get it right," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs. "It doesn't make sense to get something just for the sake of getting it if it doesn't work for both sides," he said.

In July, at a Moscow summit, US President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said they wanted to cut the number of deployed nuclear warheads by about a third to 1,500 and 1650 respectively.

The number of delivery units – missiles, bombers and submarines – would also be reduced.

rc/AFP/Reuters

Editor: Nigel Tandy