MOSCOW. Feb 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Russia is expecting "substantial and tangible results" from the second round of Russian-U.S. talks on strategic issues, which have just started in Moscow, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov said in reply to a question from Interfax before the plenary session of the talks on Tuesday.
The discussion between inter-departmental delegations from the two countries is focused on "drawing up agreements on radical reductions in strategic offensive weapons and a document on a new framework of strategic relations between Russia and the U.S.," Mamedov said.
The Russian and U.S. presidents "agreed to intensify the talks" on these issues during a telephone conversation on February 5, the deputy minister said.
Mamedov and U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control and International Security John Bolton, who arrived in Moscow on Sunday, are leading inter-departmental delegations at the talks.
The first round of talks on drawing up documents for the Russian-U.S. summit slated for May in Moscow took place in Washington in January.