US and Russia sign arms deals

New york - The US and Russia yesterday signed a handful of arms agreements that could finally clear the way for a new round of radical reductions in strategic nuclear weapons. The US Secretary of State, Ms Madeleine Albright, and the Russian Foreign Minister, Mr Yevgeny Primakov, took part in the ceremony. With the signings, President Yeltsin will be "armed with all the tools he said he needed to make a full court press in the Duma (parliament) for ratification" of the START-2 strategic arms reduction treaty, Mr Jack Mendelsohn, deputy director of the Arms Control Association, said.