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U.S., Russia to reduce N-arsenal

— Photo: AP

Rebooting ties: U.S. President Barack Obama (right) with his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev in London on Wednesday.

LONDON: In a significant diplomatic breakthrough, U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev agreed here on Wednesday to reopen talks on reducing their nuclear warheads. They met on the sidelines of the G20 summit.

These will be the first major arms control negotiations in more than a decade and could lead to the replacement of the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) which expires on December 5.

In a joint statement, the two leaders said they would be in a much stronger position to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime if they led the world by example by reducing their own nuclear arsenal.

Indicating a sense of urgency, they said the negotiators had been told to report first results in July when the two leaders were expected to meet for a summit in Russia.

Mr. Obama declared that his administration wanted to “press the reset button”; using a phrase that has become a shorthand in Washington for pushing for closer relations with Moscow.

“Both sides of the Atlantic understand that, as much as the constant cloud of nuclear warfare has receded, that the presence of these deadly weapons continues to be the gravest threat to humanity,” he said answering questions on U.S.-Russia relations at a joint press conference with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who is hosting the London summit.

He acknowledged that differences between the two countries remained but said they also shared many interests such as reducing the threat of terrorism and stabilising the world economy.

The agreement on nuclear negotiations came as American officials in Washington claimed that the talks could lead to reducing each country’s nuclear stockpile by 80 per cent.

“We are going to re-engage Russia in a more traditional, legally binding arms reduction process….We are prepared to engage in a broader dialogue with the Russians over issues of concern to them. Nobody would be surprised if the number reduced to the 1,000 mark for the post-Start treaty,” The Times quoted one official as saying.

It also reported that the President proposed to establish a “non-proliferation office” at the White House to oversee the talks, expected to be headed by Gary Samore, a non-proliferation negotiator in the Clinton Administration.

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