US Ambassador: Precise Figures Of Nuclear Arms Reduction To Be Discussed

Details of the Russo-American agreements to radically reduce the number of nuclear weapons will be on the agenda of further consultations, Alexander Vershbow, the US Ambassador to Russia, was quoted as saying at a press conference in Moscow. According to Vershbow, this issue was at the top of the agenda during the recent summit of the two countries' Presidents. As a result, the leaders managed to make "a break-through in the issue of radically reducing the numbers of strategic nuclear warheads," the Ambassador said. Vershbow also said that the reduction which was mentioned by President Bush, namely 1700-2200 units, referred to the warheads currently deployed. "I believe that the present political agreement will be followed by discussion in order to turn it into a detailed practical agreement," the Ambassador said. According to him, there are different ways of formalising such an agreement. In particular, the sides will have to "clear up how many warheads will be destroyed and how many will be dismantled and de-commissioned," Vershbow said.