US, Russia to announce new arms treaty Friday: report

The United States and Russia will announce Friday that they have reached an agreement on deeper cuts in their nuclear arsenals to be signed early next month in Prague, US media reported Friday.

US President Barack Obama will first speak with his Russian counterpart Dmitri Medvedev before making the announcement, ABC and NBC television correspondents said, citing unnamed sources.

"An agreement is imminent" to replace the landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a key goal of the Obama administration, ABC added. The START treaty expired on December 5.

White House officials would not immediately confirm the reports, but had earlier indicated Obama would call Medvedev within days to finalize the agreement.

Signed in 1991, START led to huge reductions in the Russian and US nuclear arsenals and imposed verification measures to build trust between the two former Cold War foes.

Delays in the talks on a follow-on agreement and missed deadlines have cast a shadow over the Russian and US leaders' efforts to make good on their pledge to improve bilateral ties.