MOSCOW, July 14 (RIA Novosti) - The next round of talks between Russia and the United States on a new strategic arms reduction treaty will be held on July 22-24 in Geneva, a source in the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
Three rounds of comprehensive talks have already been held on drafting a new nuclear arms reduction pact to replace the START 1 treaty, which expires on December 5.
The START 1 treaty obliges Russia and the United States to reduce nuclear warheads to 6,000 and their delivery vehicles to 1,600 each. In 2002, a follow-up agreement on strategic offensive arms reduction was concluded in Moscow. The document, known as the Moscow Treaty, envisioned cuts to 1,700-2,200 warheads by December 2012.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama signed an agreement last week outlining the provisions of the final treaty, including cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.
According to a report published by the U.S. State Department in April, as of January 1 Russia had 3,909 nuclear warheads and 814 delivery vehicles, including ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers.
The same report said the United States had 5,576 warheads and 1,198 delivery vehicles.
