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U.S.-Russia nuclear deal "95 percent" agreed upon

"Everything in negotiations is going fine, 95 percent of the new deal's issues have been agreed upon," Interfax quoted him as telling reporters in the Black Sea town of Sochi.

"I am pretty optimistic in my expectations," he added, but said that U.S. plans for a missile defense system in Europe remained an issue.

Medvedev's spokeswoman Natalya Timakova declined to comment.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Medvedev laid out plans last year to forge a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, called START, and reduce the arsenals of the two largest nuclear powers.

It is an important element of efforts to mend relations between Washington and Moscow, which plunged to post-Cold War lows after Russia's brief war with pro-Western Georgia in 2008.

Negotiators were unable to reach agreement by December 5, when START I expired, and official negotiations in Geneva have not resumed after a break over the holiday period.

A top U.S. official indicated earlier this month that they would resume on January 25, and Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday he expected an agreement would be reached soon once negotiations resume at the beginning of February.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said in late December that U.S. plans for a missile defense system were the main obstacle to reaching a new deal, causing the U.S. State Department to reject any attempt to broaden START talks to cover defensive weapons systems.

Sunday, Medvedev said the Kremlin "will definitely raise the issue" of the missile shield with its U.S. negotiators once START talks resume.

"It is crafty to speak of strategic nuclear forces without touching upon missile defense," Itar-Tass quoted him as saying. "If nuclear missiles are launched, anti-missiles are too."

Russia's leaders have remained wary about Obama's revised missile defense plans, which are based on sea- and land-based missile interceptors in Europe.

Any START agreement must be ratified by lawmakers in both countries to take effect.

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