Analyst: Prospects good for START-2

MOSCOW, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- A new strategic arms reduction agreement between Russia and the United States is likely with the election of Barack Obama, a Russian analyst said Thursday.

Sergei Rogov, the director of the Institute of the U.S. and Canada, said Obama, the Democrat who won Tuesday's U.S. presidential election, supports cutting nuclear arsenals, the Novosti news agency reported.

The United States and Soviet Union signed START-1 in July 1991, five months before the end of the Soviet Union. The treaty expires Dec. 5, 2009.

A new treaty depends on the United States giving up its plans to install nuclear missile shield components in Poland and the Czech Republic, Rogov said.

"I am certain you are familiar with the statements made by President Medvedev yesterday," Rogov said. "I think that Russia has expressed its position clearly -- we are ready to make new steps in the sphere of disarmament, but we are waiting for the U.S. to abandon its attempts to surround Russia with a missile defense ring."

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Russia would install short-range Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad if the United States goes ahead with its plans.