Russia-U.S. arms reduction deal to ensure "balance of interests": Russian official

MOSCOW, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- A top priority in the Russia-U.S. nuclear talks is to ensure "an absolute balance of interests" in all fields, with neither side gaining an upper hand from any of the terms, a senior Russian lawmaker said Tuesday.

A new Russia-U.S. strategic arms reduction treaty will promote global strategic stability, said Konstantin Kosachev, chairman of the International Affairs Committee of the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament.

Kosachev was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying he saw no obstacles to a new nuclear arms reduction treaty, which would further cut nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles in accordance with the outline agreed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama.

The new treaty's outline agreed to by the two presidents at a July summit in Moscow included slashing nuclear arsenals to 1,500 to 1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500 to 1,000.

"We have agreed that delivery vehicles carrying conventional warheads should be considered as strategic weapons, and both sides will place a limit on such arms," Kosachev said.

Moscow and Washington have been trying to clinch a new document to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) that expired on Dec. 5.

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