The United States and Russia on Monday began another round of talks over nuclear disarmament in the Swiss city of Geneva, with diplomatic sources saying the talks could continue into mid-December, according to dpa. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, speaking in the German weekly Der Spiegel, said that there was a chance that a new disarmament agreement could be in place by the end of the year. The previous agreement, the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), expires on December 5. Last Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko praised the "constructive atmosphere" in nuclear disarmament talks with the US, adding that the only major differences were about the number of warheads deployed by the two sides. Media reports said both envisaged a reduction to a maximum of 1,100 warheads each, but experts believe Russia wants deeper cuts than the number proposed by the United States. Nesterenko said each further meeting would see both sides narrow their differences and "do everything possible to reach a positive conclusion." Russia and the United States together own 95 per cent of the worlds nuclear weapons.
