Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is urging Russia to wrap up negotiations quickly with the Obama administration over a key nuclear arms reduction treaty that expired in December.
The State Department says Clinton spoke by phone with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to press him on completing the talks, which began last year and are still under way in Geneva.
Department spokesman P.J. Crowley says Clinton emphasized that a deal is close at hand and encouraged Russia to push toward an agreement in the next couple of weeks.
President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed in July to cut the number of nuclear warheads each country has to between 1,500 and 1,675 under a new treaty.
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