Obama, Medvedev seek huge nuclear weapons cuts

NUKEWARS

START: cutting the world's nuclear arsenal

The following is a factbox on Strategic Arms Reduction Talks which was signed as the Cold War era was coming to an end.

- Two agreements, known as START I and START II, were drafted, but only START I was ratified and implemented by both countries, from 1991. It is due to expire at the end of this year.

- START I replaced the second Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT II) agreement signed in the 1970s by the United States and what was then the Soviet Union.

START I called for the US strategic nuclear arsenal to be cut from 9,986 warheads to 8,556, and the Soviet arsenal from 10,237 to 6,449, over a period of seven years.

On January 3, 1993, US president George H. Bush and Russian president Boris Yeltsin -- the Soviet Union had disappeared in December 1991 -- signed the START II treaty, which was to slice each side's strategic arsenal by a further two-thirds.

More specifically, once the treaty was ratified by both sides, Russia and the United States were to reduce their arsenals to no more than 4,250 warheads.

Each side was then to reduce its arsenal further by the end of 2007, to no more than 3,500 warheads.

Out of this total the number of missiles carried on submarines was not to exceed 1,750 on January 1, 2003 while on the same date multi-warhead and independent ground missiles should have completely disappeared from the two countries' strategic arsenals.

The US Senate ratified START II in 1996 and the lower house of Russia's parliament, the State Duma, approved the treaty in April 2000.

However, the Duma attached conditions to its ratification that were not accepted by the US side, so the treaty did not enter into force.

Apart from START, the reduction of the two countries strategic nuclear arms is managed by the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty (SORT), better known as the Moscow Treaty, which was signed in 2002.

It provides for a ceiling of 1,700-2,200 nuclear warheads for each of the two states.

by Staff Writers
London (AFP) April 1, 2009
US President Barack Obama and Russia's Dmitry Medvedev launched a milestone quest Wednesday to slash their nuclear arsenals, hoping to reverse the worst slump in the former foes' ties since the Cold War.

In their first face-to-face talks, Obama and Medvedev also upped pressure on Iran over its nuclear programme and agreed the US leader would go to Moscow in July for a high-stakes summit as he stamps his imprint on US foreign policy.

Obama said he hoped that the talks at the US ambassador's residence in London on the eve of the G20 summit, marked "the beginning of "new progress in US-Russian relations" and said Mevedev's leadership had been crucial.

"I have agreed to visit Moscow in July, which we both agreed was a better time than January to visit," he said, in a quip about Russia's brutal winters.

Medvedev said he agreed with Obama that relations between the former Cold War foes had been adrift in recent years.

"They were drifting, and drifting in some wrong directions. They were degrading, to some extent," he said, referring to spats over missile defence, NATO expansion and Russia's war in Georgia.

"After this meeting I look at the future of our relations with optimism," Medvedev said.

Specifically, Obama and Medvedev agreed to hold talks to agree slashing cuts in their nuclear arsenals in a replacement for the cornerstone START arms reduction treaty which expires at the end of the year.

The 1991 treaty limits the number of missiles and warheads that each side may have, and was the basis of Cold War strategic arms control.

US officials did not disclose the size of the cuts, but signalled they would cover a substantial chunk of the superpower armoury.

Members of both delegations were almost euphoric in their reaction to the meetings. "This was not a meet and greet, this was setting a very ambitious agenda for US-Russian relations," said a senior US official.

"I guess Medvedev has seized the moment too," he added, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Another US official said the nuclear negotiating instructions were a "very significant breakthrough."

Russian first deputy prime minister Igor Shuvalov said the meeting was "not rosey, but positive."

Konstantin Kosachyov, head of the international relations committee of the Russian state duma added: "I believe the two leaders got a sense of one another as people."

However, both sides said there were areas of candid disagreement, including over Georgia, Russia's claims to have a sphere of influence in former Soviet states, and human rights.

Obama himself admitted in an earlier press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown that despite areas of possible progress, areas of conflict remained.

"There are very real differences between the United States and Russia, and I have no interest in papering those over," Obama said.

The presidents also broached another area of tension, the proposed US missile defense scheme in Europe, which Russia opposes and the Obama administration has signaled it may slow to ease Moscow's fears.

Their statement said they discussed "new possibilities for mutual international cooperation" on the issue.

Washington has been keen to secure more robust Russian support in the diplomatic effort to convince Iran to halt its nuclear programme.

The leaders recognised Iran had a right to a "civilian nuclear programme" but added Tehran must do more to convince the world of the initiative's "exclusively peaceful nature."

"We call on Iran to fully implement the relevant UN Security Council and the IAEA Board of Governors resolutions including provision of required cooperation with the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency).

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NUKEWARS

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