Lavrov, Clinton confirm adherence to consensus on nuclear disarmament

MOSCOW, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the progress of the talks on a new arms control deal in a phone conversation, pledging to abide by the consensus reached by the two presidents, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.

"The sides confirmed the need to concentrate the work of the delegations in Geneva on strict observance of the fundamental understandings reached by the presidents of Russia and the United States," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The understandings were reaffirmed at the meeting between Gen. Nikolai Makarov, Russia's armed forces chief of staff, and the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Mike Mullen, in Moscow in January, the statement said.

The top diplomats also touched upon the preparations for a planned Moscow ministerial meeting of the "quartet" of Middle East peace negotiators that includes the United Nations, Russia, the United States and the European Union, it said.

According to the Kremlin, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met Lavrov on the new nuclear arms reduction treaty after the phone talks between Lavrov and Clinton.

Anatoly Antonov, who leads the Russian delegation at the arms talks, also attended the meeting, the Kremlin said, without giving further details.

Russia and the United States have been working on a replacement for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) that expired on Dec. 5.

An outline of the new pact, agreed by Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama, includes slashing nuclear arsenals to 1, 500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.