"The intention of both sides is to guarantee the possibility of signing a new treaty as soon as possible," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko told journalists.

US and Russian negotiators have been meeting in Geneva this week to discuss a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), a landmark Cold War-era nuclear arms pact which expired in December.

Agreeing a replacement for START has been a foreign-policy priority for the administration of US President Barack Obama, and a deal would help bolster Obama's stated goal of a world free of nuclear weapons.

When asked whether the START talks had stalled due a dispute over US missile defence, Nesterenko said: "We have never spoken of any disagreements. A normal process of negotiation is under way."

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Obama had been "frustrated" after a February phone call with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev, who told him Moscow wanted to reopen issues that Washington had thought settled.

In particular, Moscow was angered by an announcement in January that Romania would host elements of a US missile shield and sought to reintroduce the issue of missile defence at the talks, The New York Times said.

A White House spokesman hinted Tuesday that US negotiators would not "rush" the START talks just to get a new deal signed before April, when Obama hosts a nuclear non-proliferation summit in Washington.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is due to visit Moscow next week, and her agenda includes a discussion of START with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Nesterenko said.

Signed in 1991, START led to huge reductions in the US and Russian nuclear arsenals and imposed verification measures to build trust between the two former Cold War foes.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.