Russia and the United States have made "significant" progress towards a new nuclear disarmament treaty, says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The prior START treaty, sealed in 1991 to end the Cold War, expired in December. US President Barack Obama and Mr Medvedev have pledged to replace START but talks have bogged down in recent months due to disagreements over missile monitoring. Another stumbling block, US plans for the creation of a missile shield in Eastern Europe, was recently removed when Washington scrapped the project.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev (Photo: Wikipedia)