Obama, Medvedev Sign Nuclear Arms Reduction Treaty (Update3)
By Julianna Goldman and Lyubov Pronina
April 8 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, pledging to cut their countries’ nuclear arsenals by about 30 percent, put their signatures to an arms-reduction treaty that opens a new chapter in relations between the two former Cold War rivals.
Obama and Medvedev sealed the agreement in a ceremony in Prague. While the two sides are still at odds over U.S. plans to deploy a missile defense system, Obama and Medvedev pledged to keep talking to resolve those differences and build up a relationship that had soured in recent years.
“Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and non-proliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations,” Obama said in remarks after the signing in a hall of mirrored walls and gilded chandeliers in Prague Castle. The treaty, he said, “will set the stage” for further cuts in nuclear weapons.
Medvedev called the agreement a “win-win situation” for both countries and an “important step” that will enhance cooperation on other issues.
U.S. officials have said the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which replaces an accord that was signed in 1991 and expired in December, demonstrates the American commitment to reducing the spread of nuclear weapons and will encourage other countries to work toward that goal.
Iran Pressure
The U.S. president is seeking to use the accord in his effort to build international support for tougher sanctions against Iran over its nuclear development program and to get a global consensus on steps to prevent terrorists from getting atomic material.
It would require each nation to limit deployed strategic warheads to no more than 1,550, from 2,200 allowed now, and no more than 800 deployed and non-deployed land-, air- and sea- based launchers. Not all warheads in the U.S. and Russia arsenals would count toward the limit.
The arms treaty was signed just days after Obama released a document outlining his nuclear policy that shifted U.S. doctrine to focus more on the threat from extremist groups and nations such as Iran and North Korea rather than confrontation with nuclear powers such as Russia. It also leads into a summit on securing nuclear materials that Obama is hosting April 12 and 13 in Washington.
Medvedev is scheduled to attend that meeting, which includes representatives of 45 other nations, and plans a fuller visit to the U.S. in the coming months.
The treaty is subject to ratification by the U.S. Senate and the Russian parliament. Obama said he expects the Senate to approve it this year and Medvedev said there will be “no delay” from Russia.
Missile Defense
Differences remain over the missile defense system the U.S. plans to deploy to guard against an attack by rogue nations, such as Iran.
The U.S.-Russia relationship chilled when former President George W. Bush proposed putting a radar site in the Czech Republic and interceptors in Poland. Russian officials said that posed a threat to their security. Obama last year scrapped that plan for one that initially would be largely based on U.S. ships at sea.
Still, the Russian government issued a statement today reiterating its position that it reserved the right to withdraw from the START Treaty if there was a “qualitative or quantitative” buildup of a U.S. missile defense.
U.S. View
The White House played down any friction. Brian McKeon, deputy national security adviser to Vice President Joe Biden, wrote on the White House Web site that such statements have been part of arm-reduction treaties dating to the Nixon administration.
The U.S. remains “committed to continuing to develop and deploy” the missile defense system and that is not restricted by the treaty, McKeon, who will be leading the effort to win U.S. Senate ratification of the treaty, wrote.
Obama said he and Medvedev will continue discussions on missile defense that “will allow us to move forward in a constructive way.” He reiterated that the plans are intended to protect the U.S. and its allies from a “rogue missile from any source” and aren’t intended to change the balance of power between the two nations.
Medvedev said Russia wants to work with the U.S. on the issue.
“The wording in the signed agreement satisfied both sides,” he said. “We are not indifferent to what happens with missile defense. This is a flexible process and we are interested in cooperating tightly with our American partners.”
Threat Assessments
The U.S. and Russia will share threat assessments and conduct a joint study of “emerging ballistic missiles,” Obama said.
Obama emphasized the link between the arms control agreement and attempts to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and material. The acquisition of such weapons by more states presents an “unacceptable risk to global security,” Obama said.
He singled out Iran, saying the nation is flouting the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and risking an arms race in the Middle East.
“That’s why the United States and Russia are part of a coalition of nations insisting that the Islamic Republic of Iran face consequences, because they have continually failed to meet their obligations,” he said.
Medvedev also addressed Iran and the possibility of further sanctions against the Islamic government.
No ‘Blind Eye’
“Regrettably, Iran is not responding to many constructive proposals that have been made, and we cannot turn a blind eye toward this,” he said. He said he wouldn’t “rule out” the possibility that the United Nations “will have to review this issue once again.”
The treaty replaces the original START agreement, signed July 31, 1991, months before the collapse of the Soviet Union, by then-President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.
It took effect on Dec. 5, 1994, under President Bill Clinton, who in the same year proposed a total ban of nuclear testing. Two years later Clinton signed a comprehensive test ban treaty with Russia, the United Kingdom and 90 non-nuclear nations that pledged an end to all nuclear weapons testing.
The Senate in 1999 failed to ratify the test-ban accord. Obama has pledged to pursue ratification and continue prohibiting testing.
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