Russia, Nuclear Weapon | featured news

An air of cautious optimism hung over Almaty, Kazakstan, on Friday as Western and Iranian negotiators began another round of nuclear talks. The six powers – the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany – met Iranian officials with the aim of settling a decade-long tussle over Tehran's nuclear program.

Russia's lower house of parliament has given a preliminary approval to a U.S.-Russian arms treaty....

The United States, Russia, China and other key nations have reached agreement on a "strong" Iran sanctions resolution, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Tuesday.

Russia may lift the veil on its vast nuclear arsenal after a new strategic arms reduction treaty with the United States comes into force, a spokesman for Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

The United States, Russia, Britain, France and China on Wednesday voiced support for making the Middle East a nuclear-arms-free zone, which would mean Israel would have to scrap any atomic bombs it has.

The new weapons system is designed to hurl a conventional warhead of enormous weight at high speed and with pinpoint accuracy, without crossing the nuclear threshold.

Sweeping pact pledges to cut stockpile of deployed, strategic nuclear weapons and commits the old Cold War rivals to new verification procedures.

Russia will not support "crippling" sanctions against Iran, including any that may be slapped on the Islamic Republic's banking or energy sectors, a senior Russian diplomat said Wednesday.

Russia joined the U.S. and France in urging Iran to stop enriching uranium to higher levels in a statement shared Tuesday with The Associated Press, suggesting the project reinforced suspicions that Tehran is seeking to make nuclear weapons.

Both President Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev want Iran to relinquish potential nuclear explosive material in return for fuel. A White House official says the two leaders discussed possible sanctions if Iran refuses to comply.