The US and Russia yesterday pledged to make big cuts in their strategic nuclear arsenals and pursue closer ties but failed to settle their most serious dispute, a row over US plans to install an anti-missile defence system in eastern Europe.

At the first US-Russia summit in Moscow in seven years, US president Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev said their countries would co-operate in addressing global issues, including nuclear non-proliferation, terrorism and instability in Afghanistan.