Clinton, Lavrov discuss nuclear arm-control treaty

WASHINGTON, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday called Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an effort to push a nuclear arm control process guided by a new treaty.

In the a 15-minute-long phone talks, Secretary Clinton " encouraged Russia to continue to move ahead, push hard, so we can reach an agreement in the next couple of weeks," said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley.

"There are still some details to be worked out. We hope we can do that in coming days," said the spokesman, referring to the talks lasting some months.

Negotiators from the two sides, now in Geneva, still have been trying to hammer out a new nuclear arm control treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expired on December 5.

Under the new and more ambitious initiative, backed by President Barack Obama and President Dmitry Medvedev, the nuclear warheads each side holds are expected to be reduced to 1,500 to 1, 675, while the launchers to be limited to 500 to 1,000.

Both Obama and Medvedev consider the arm control process as a vital step to boost mutual trust between the two countries.

The two leaders have vowed to work together in the spirit of the START treaty following its expiration, in order to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date.