The effective Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) was signed by the United States and the Soviet Union on July 31, 1991, five months before the U.S.S.R. collapsed. The treaty is set to expire on December 5, 2009.
Speaking before journalists on the eve of a meeting between the Russian and U.S. presidents to be held as part of a summit of the G-8 group of industrialized nations in Japan set to open on Monday, Sergei Prikhodko said that there had been no progress of late in reaching an understating between Russia and the United States on strategic arms.
Prikhodko said that the United States was expressing its readiness to reach an understanding on a new nuclear arms pact only in words.
"We hope that George Bush will be able during the remaining period of his stay in the White House to reverse the situation to reach mutually acceptable accords already by the end of the year. The entire international community is expecting this from us," Prikhodko said.
