Putin pledges implementation of START-2

The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has confirmed that his government intends to fully implement the START-2 treaty.

Mr Putin's comments were part of a message sent to an international conference of the Pugwash movement of scientists.

START-2 , or Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, was signed by Russia and the United States in 1993, but the lower house of the Russian parliament, the Duma, only ratified it last April.

The treaty provides for a mutual reduction in the number of nuclear warheads to no more than three-and-a-half thousand on each side by the year 2007.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service