MOSCOW, Sept. 5 (Xinhua) -- Russia and the United States have started drafting a new nuclear arms reduction treaty, the Foreign Ministry said Saturday.

    "The sides have started working on specific articles of a future treaty, and agreed that work on them will be carried out by special working groups," RIA Novosti and Itar-Tass quoted a foreign ministry official as saying.

    The two countries concluded their fifth round of talks on an arms reduction treaty in Geneva on Sept. 2.

    Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said Thursday that another round of talks will be held in Geneva on Sept. 21.

    During their last meeting, the negotiators discussed the parameters of a new treaty, formulating wording that the presidents of both countries can agree to, Nesterenko said.

    President Dmitry Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed in July in Moscow on the outlines of a deal to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START 1).

    START I, signed in 1991 and due to expire in December, places a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on both countries and allows the inspection of weapons.