Dmitry Medvedev, Barack Obama to meet in New York

"At a meeting that will take place in New York on September 23, [Dmitry] Medvedev and [Barack] Obama will hear a report on the progress of the talks," Lavrov said.

Medvedev and Obama agreed in July in Moscow on the outline of a deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which expires on December 5, including cutting their countries' nuclear arsenals to 1,500-1,675 operational warheads and delivery vehicles to 500-1,000.

During a telephone conversation on Aug. 5, Medvedev and Obama confirmed their intention to prepare a new nuclear arms reduction treaty by Dec.

According to a report published by the U.S. State Department in Apr., as of Jan. 1 Russia had 3,909 nuclear warheads and 814 delivery vehicles, including ground-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), submarine launched ballistic missiles (SLBM) and strategic bombers.

The same report said the United States had 5,576 warheads and 1,198 delivery vehicles.

/Vzqlyad/