US and Russian negotiators have been meeting in Geneva to discuss a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a landmark Cold War-era nuclear arms pact which expired in December.

In a telephone conversation on Saturday, both presidents ‘expressed satisfaction with the highly advanced state of preparations’ for the new accord, the Kremlin said in a statement.

During their talks, "it was stressed that it is already possible to set firm dates to submit the draft agreement to the heads of state for their signature," it said, without giving a specific timeframe.

In Washington, US National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer said the two presidents had a ‘good’ conversation in which they reviewed the progress of the Geneva negotiations. "The results of their talks are encouraging, and both leaders are committed to concluding an

AFP