Part II of Newclick's interview with Prof. Anuradha Chenoy of the Centre for Russian and Central Asian Studies, SIS, JNU, on developments in Central Asia, as a pro-democracy uprising wave is in progress in West Asia.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia and the United States are very close to resolving all remaining questions on a new treaty to slash vast Cold War arsenals of nuclear weapons, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

The west gave a cool response to a recent Russian proposal for a new Euro-Atlantic security pact, which would restrict the use of force by signatories and create a new mechanism for the resolution of conflicts.

Russia and China bolstered their close but increasingly imbalanced relationship on Tuesday when Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin ushered through a tentative gas supply agreement and deals worth $3.5 billion.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton failed to win specific pledges from Moscow on tougher sanctions against Iran during a visit to Russia on Tuesday but hailed progress in other areas such as arms control.