Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday said he was not optimistic that the New START nuclear arms control treaty between Russia and the United States would be extended, the RIA news agency reported.
Lavrov said the risks of nuclear confrontation have seriously increased recently and that Moscow was prepared to discuss control over new weapons systems with Washington.
An internal political fight in the United States is behind "unscrupulous speculation" of Moscow's alleged ties with Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Friday.
A top U.S. general said on Thursday that the United States believed Russia has given support to Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan in the past, but does not have the intelligence to confirm it directed attacks against Americans or to corroborate that it paid bounties to kill U.S. troops.
