Donald Rumsfeld, left, and Sergei Ivanov (file photo)

 However, neither official would give details of the talks, which were held at Moscow's Sheremetovo airport, saying only that President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin will have to decide if an agreement can be signed at their summit later next month.

 The proposed deal Mr. Rumsfeld and Mr. Ivanov discussed calls for reducing Russian and U.S. nuclear arsenals to 1,700-2,200 nuclear warheads each by the year 2012.

 However, a senior U.S. official told reporters Monday in Moscow that the United States still hopes to keep several hundred additional nuclear warheads in reserve, rather than destroy them. The dispute over the storage plan has slowed progress towards an agreement.

 Secretary Rumsfeld's brief stop in Moscow came at the end of his four-nation tour of Central Asia that included visits to Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan.
 
 

Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.

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