07/07/2009

News / Russia, U.S. Seek to Lead Nonproliferation Efforts by Example

By Stephen Kaufman
Staff Writer

Washington — Citing shared concerns over nuclear security and the spread of nuclear weapons, President Obama says the United States and Russia are increasing their security cooperation and have signed a preliminary agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals.

“As the world's two leading nuclear powers, the United States and Russia must lead by example,” Obama said in Moscow July 6, adding that it is difficult to exert leadership on the issue “unless we are showing ourselves willing to deal with our own nuclear stockpiles in a more rational way.”

The follow-on agreement to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START-I, will be completed by the end of 2009 and “will reduce our nuclear warheads and delivery systems by up to a third from our current treaty limitations,” Obama said.

Under the joint understanding signed July 6, the United States and Russia will reduce their numbers of strategic warheads from a maximum of 2,200 to a range of 1,500–1,675, and their strategic delivery vehicles from a maximum of 1,600 to a range of 500–1,100. The president added that he hopes further reductions can be made through subsequent agreements and treaties.

Speaking at a press conference with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, Obama repeated his call to “reset” relations between the two countries, which he said have “suffered from a sense of drift.”

“President Medvedev and I are committed to leaving behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the past so that we can advance the interests that we hold in common,” the president said. During his talks in Moscow, U.S. and Russian officials signed several agreements and issued joint statements on topics ranging from the resumption of military-to-military cooperation to the establishment of a bilateral presidential commission and working groups to focus on areas of mutual security and prosperity issues. (For more information, see “Obama’s Agenda for U.S.-Russian Relations.”)

The two leaders expressed their concern about nuclear proliferation and acknowledged a shared responsibility to prevent the spread of nuclear arms.

Medvedev said there are “negative trends in the world, and they are due to the emergence of new nuclear players.” Pointing to the Middle East and Korean Peninsula, the Russian leader said these were regions where the presence of nuclear arms “would create huge problems,” and he called for closer cooperation with the United States.

Some of the new players “are not officially members of the nuclear club, but they have aspirations to have nuclear weapons and declare so openly or, which is worse, are doing it clandestinely. And of course it has a very negative bearing on the world,” Medvedev said.

Obama said North Korea has continued to “flout its own commitments and international obligations in pursuit of nuclear weapons,” and that Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability would spark a nuclear arms race in “perhaps the most volatile” region of the world.

“It is almost certain that other countries in the region would then decide to pursue their own programs,” Obama said.

In addition, Obama pointed to the possibility that proliferation could cause extremist organizations to obtain a nuclear weapon and use it against civilian populations, including those in Russia and the United States.

Obama said the United States and Russia have agreed to pursue cooperation on securing loose nuclear materials and to cooperate on a “reinvigorated” nonproliferation treaty that would allow countries to obtain peaceful nuclear energy without gaining the capacity to weaponize it.

“We've actually suggested a global nuclear security summit that we intend to host next year. And I discussed with President Medvedev the strong possibility that in a subsequent summit, it could be hosted by Russia, where we bring all the countries together around the world to start making progress on this critical issue,” he said.

The two presidents also held discussions on areas of disagreement, such as the Republic of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Obama said that while the two countries are working through their disagreements over Georgia’s borders, “we do agree that no one has an interest in renewed military conflict. And going forward, we must speak candidly to resolve these differences peacefully and constructively.”

On anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense, both countries agreed to continue discussions over a system that could protect European countries from a missile launched from Iran, North Korea or elsewhere. Obama said it is legitimate for the discussions to include both offensive and defensive weapons systems. (See “Obama, Russia’s Medvedev Agree to Further Missile Defense Talks.”)

He acknowledged that the Russian government has deep concerns over the ABM system, but said hard work will help break down long-standing suspicions and could make an understanding possible.

Medvedev said the linkage between offensive and defensive weapons “already … constitutes a step forward,” and “this opens up the opportunity of bringing positions closer to each other.”

Medvedev said Russia’s relationship with the United States has not met its potential and does not match the current age. But he said he viewed his conversations and negotiations with Obama in Moscow “as a first but very important step in the process of improving full-scale cooperation between our two countries, which should go to the benefit of both states.”

“If both states benefit by it, that means everybody will benefit by it,” he added.

A transcript of the press conference is available on America.gov.
http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2009/July/20090706152326esnamfuak0.0448572.html

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