Russia and the United States will sign a military agreement during the US president Barack Obama's visit to Moscow at beginning of July, Russia's chief of staff Nikolai Makarov told the Interfax news agency today, according to dpa. The treaty would outline the details of the countries' military cooperation. Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, held talks Friday with his Russian counterpart, which focused on their future defence strategies and their fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The agreement would be the first step towards a succession to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), which will expire end of this year. Mullen described their meeting as a "positive impulse" for the military relations between both countries. "Our soldiers have a long history of cooperation. We fought together and died together. This treaty allows us to have a more optimistic view of worldwide developments," Mullen said. Russian-US relations have suffered lately due to last year's Georgia war.
