US ready to finalize nuclear arms deal with Russia

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US State Department said Tuesday it is ready to finalize an agreement with Russia regarding nuclear arms control.

"The United States is prepared to meet immediately to finalize a verifiable agreement," agency spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said in a statement.

"We appreciate the Russian Federation’s willingness to make progress on the issue of nuclear arms control," she said. "We expect Russia to empower its diplomats to do the same."

The Kremlin indicated earlier it is ready to accept a US proposal to freeze a number of warheads and extend the last arms control agreement between Moscow and Washington for one year.

The first Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, START I, signed in 1991 between the US and USSR, took effect in 1994.

The New START treaty, signed in 2010 by former US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, puts a limit of no more than 1,550 deployed warheads and 700 missiles, including inspections to verify compliance with the deal.