Moscow, Dec 26 (IANS): Russia and the US should not defer indefinitely solutions to problems that are important for both countries and the whole world, primarily in the sphere of security, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has said.

"This also applies to the issue of strategic stability because Russia and the US bear special responsibility as the largest nuclear powers," Lavrov was quoted as saying in an interview with TASS news agency posted on the foreign ministry's website on Thursday, Xinhua reported.

In particular, Russia advocates extending the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which is due to expire in February 2021, without preconditions and artificial delays, Lavrov said.

He said that after the collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty at the initiative of the US, the New START remains "the last international legal instrument that mutually limits the nuclear missile potential of our countries and provides predictability in the field of arms control".

Lavrov noted that the New START is a bilateral agreement, so involving other states in its extension is impossible.

"Russia and the US could now together extend the New START in order to reassure the international community and prevent a vacuum in the field of strategic stability," he said.