Arms treaty with Russia to reflect missile defense: U.S. ambassador

MOSCOW, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- A new arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia would reflect a link between strategic offensive and defensive weapons, John Beyrle, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, said Thursday.

"The new treaty is about offensive rather than defensive systems, but we recognize there is a logical link between the two and our presidents have agreed that the treaty will contain a provision on the interconnection between strategic offensive and defensive arms," Beyrle said in his Russian-language blog.

Beyrle said the two sides were very close to completing negotiations on a pact to further reduce their offensive nuclear arsenals.

Admitting that U.S. missile defense plans remain a sensitive issue in bilateral relations, Beyrle stressed that the missile shield was designed to counter current and future threats from the Middle East.

The ambassador's statements followed comments by Gen. Nikolai Makarov, Russian armed forces chief of staff, who said the missile system which was aimed at Russia had led to delays in signing a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) that expired Dec. 5.

An outline of the new treaty, agreed to by Russia and the United States in Geneva last week, includes slashing nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.