Russia and the United States will begin the first round of consultations on a new strategic arms reduction treaty by the end of April, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said on Saturday.

"We should begin these consultations by the end of April," the Interfax news agency quoted Ryabkov as saying. He said that officials from the Russian Foreign Ministry and the U.S. State Department will participate in the talks.

Rose Gottemoeller, the recently endorsed assistant secretary of state for verification and compliance, is expected to represent the United States at the talks.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama earlier reached an agreement to negotiate a new deal on cutting nuclear warheads after meeting on the sidelines of the G20 London summit.

The leaders have instructed negotiators to report their first results on the new agreement by July, when Obama will visit Moscow.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), signed in 1991 between the United States and the former Soviet Union, places a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on each side and allows weapons inspections. It is due to expire in December this year.

A subsequent 2002 treaty signed in Moscow called for reducing nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by the end of 2012, but made no provision for verification.

If START expires in December without a follow-up, the Moscow treaty would be left with no legally binding system for verification.

It is estimated that the United States currently has at least 2,200 strategic nuclear warheads deployed and Russia between 2,000 and 3,000.

(Xinhua News Agency April 5, 2009)