The Kremlin says U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev are close to reaching an agreement on a new nuclear disarmament treaty.
Russian officials say the two leaders spoke by phone on Saturday and said it was possible to talk about a firm date for signing at treaty to reduce their arsenals of nuclear weapons.
Russia and the United States have been negotiating a replacement to the 1991 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty, which expired in December.
The talks had been hung up on how to verify the arms cuts and U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe.
Russia opposes the missile plan.
Some information for this report provided by AFP and Reuters.
