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Kremlin: Obama, Medvedev Ready to Finalize Nuclear Arms Pact

   VOA News 13 March 2010

   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.

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