Russia, U.S. to follow new arms reduction treaty before ratification: Russian FM

MOSCOW, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia and the United States will abide by the outline of the new treaty on strategic arms reduction before it is ratified by both parliaments, said Russia's top diplomat on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the two countries are determined to complete their work on the new treaty before Dec. 5, when the current Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) expires, news agencies cited Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov said it would take some time to ratify the new treaty, but even if it could not be ratified before the deadline, "there was nothing to be concerned about."

Under the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, after signing an agreement or a treaty, the parties must refrain from any measures that run counter to the subject and objective of the document, Lavrov explained.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama agreed at a July summit in Moscow on the outline of the new treaty to replace START-1, slashing their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

START-1, signed in 1991 between the Soviet Union and the United States, obliges both sides to reduce their nuclear warheads to 6,000 and delivery vehicles to 1,600.