In a rare albeit implicit criticism of its...

"When everyone was saying that the presidents had issued instructions to prepare it [a new agreement] in December, that was feasible, had the negotiators followed the principles agreed upon by the presidents," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists on Tuesday.

"If they do this [now], this could be completed quite soon," he said replying to a question about when a new deal could be signed. "We believe that everything could be completed within the next two or three weeks."

Lavrov stressed that one of the key principles was the principle of parity.

He did not elaborate.

Presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama have made replacing START 1, the cornerstone of post-Cold War arms control pact, part of their broader efforts to "reset" bilateral ties strained in recent years.

Officials have said an agreement between Russia and the United States to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired on December 5 last year, is

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