Russia's top arms negotiator says a major disarmament arms treaty with the United States may not be ready before the Bush-Putin summit in Moscow next month. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Georgy Mamedov told reporters in Moscow Wednesday it is impossible to say if a deal will be ready by the May 23 summit. He pointed out that there is still the question of how to guarantee the proposed arms cuts. 

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, John Bolton, left Moscow Wednesday, after ending talks with Mr. Mamedov one day early. The U.S. embassy in Moscow had no comment on why the talks were cut short. 

U.S. and Russian negotiators are striving to put together a treaty that cuts each country's offensive nuclear arsenal from six-thousand to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads by 2012. 

Both President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin have said they want a deal they can sign during their four-day summit that starts in Moscow and moves to Saint Petersburg. 

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov meets with Secretary of State Colin Powell in Washington next week to try to break the arms control stalemate. 

Some information for this report provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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