'Modest progress' on nuclear arms

Rumsfeld says Russia and the U.S. have made "modest progress" on a nuclear arms reduction agreement

MOSCOW, Russia -- U.S. and Russian officials say they have made "modest progress" towards a nuclear arms agreement but gave no indication of settling major hurdles.

U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov declined to provide details on whether a deal had been reached on Russia's bitter opposition to plans by Washington to store, instead of destroy, hundreds of nuclear warheads.

The arms are set to be removed as the two countries slash their arsenals by two-thirds over the next decade, Reuters news agency reported. Each nation has some 6,000 warheads.

Rumsfeld, who met Ivanov in Moscow on his way home from a tour of Afghanistan and Central Asia, said more talks will be held this week between Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.

"My personal belief is that today we have reached some progress. ... The meetings will continue later this week in Washington," Rumsfeld said.

"It is up to the presidents to make a decision," he added, referring to the three-day summit between Vladimir Putin and George W. Bush in Moscow and St. Petersburg that begins on May 23.

The Russian defense minister said his government had submitted to the Americans a "set of new ideas" to push the talks toward agreement.

A senior U.S. defence official traveling with Rumsfeld said en route to Moscow that Washington would not give up its plan to store some warheads as a hedge against unexpected shifts in the international security picture.

"It's a fact of life" that the Russians must accept, The Associated Press quoted the official as saying.

Rumsfeld and Sergei Ivanov also reviewed progress in the war on terror.

After the Moscow meeting, Rumsfeld headed to Washington, completing a five-nation tour to bolster support from leaders in Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan, Turkmenistan and Kazakstan for the war on terrorism, the AP reported.

Kazakstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev told Rumsfeld on Sunday his government was ready to join the international humanitarian aid effort in Afghanistan and establish a liaison office at the U.S. Central Command's headquarters in Tampa, Florida.