During his meeting with the leaders of the parliamentary parties at his hunting retreat 120 km from here, Medvedev said talks are difficult, but many points have been agreed on.

"Negotiations will continue. They are tough, but in general we have agreed on many points with the Americans," Medvedev on Saturday said in his televised remarks at the meeting.

Earlier, US President Barack Obama and Medvedev had vowed to clinch a new arms cut pact by the December 5, 2009 deadline, however, due to Washington's demand to monitor the Russian mobile Topol-M nuclear missiles, the negotiations were stalled and a new fillip was given at their December meeting in Copenhagen on the sidelines of the Climate Summit.

"We have taken a large step forward, and we have reached agreement to a significant degree in our positions," Medvedev said.