Russia, U.S. to extend talks on nuclear arms pact

The presidents of Russia and the United States agreed on Saturday to extend talks to secure a new pact to cut vast arsenals of nuclear weapons, the Kremlin said. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, agreed by telephone to continue work on finding a successor to the Cold War-era START-1 treaty after "intensive and purposeful" talks between their delegations in Geneva. "The heads of state agreed to give the order to continue active work and not to reduce the high level and tempo of cooperation, with the aim of securing decisive agreements on all issues," the Kremlin said in a statement. An Obama administration official said the two leaders spoke on Saturday to discuss the ongoing START negotiations, but the official had no further details.