Barack Obama and the Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev have signed a landmark treaty to reduce their nuclear warheads by a third in what the President called a "extraordinary event."
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent
Published: 11:25PM BST 08 Apr 2010
Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev sign the treaty cutting their nations' nuclear arsenals Photo: AFP/GETTY IMAGES
However, even as the agreement was sealed, Russia gave warning that an expansion of America's planned missile shield would derail the deal, which is the result of months of tense discussions.
Speaking in Prague after signing the treaty, Mr Obama said it was an "important milestone" in relations between the two countries, which "will move us further beyond the Cold War." While Mr Medvedev said: "The entire world community has won."
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G20 summit: US and Russia agree to cut their nuclear arsenalsThe treaty will see both sides reduce their nuclear warheads to 1,550 within seven years. Russia currently has 2,600 bombs and America has 2,252 devices. They are also restricted to 700 air-, ground- and submarine-launched intercontinental ballistic missiles that carry warheads.
It replaces the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) that first reduced Cold War nuclear stockpiles. Start was struck in 1991 but expired last year. Russia currently has 2,600 bombs and America has 2,252 devices.
But Mr Medvedev said that the new treaty was only "viable" as long as Russia's ballistic missile technology did not fall too far behind American efforts to create a missile shield that would shelter the US and its allies from long range attack.
A statement from the Kremlin said: "The treaty... can only function and be capable of life in conditions where there is no qualitative and quantitative expansion of a possible US missile defence system."
President Obama said that the differences between Washington and Moscow would be aired in a bilateral talks process. "This will include regular exchanges of information about our threat assessments, as well as the completion of a joint assessment of emerging ballistic missiles," he said.
The two leaders also used the occasion of the signing ceremony in the ornate Spanish Hall of Prague's Presidential Palace to warn Iran over sanctions if it continues pursuit of a suspected atomic weapons programme.
"We are working together at the United Nations Security Council to pass strong sanctions on Iran and we will not tolerate actions that flout the NPT [Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty]," Mr Obama said.
He said: "My expectation is that we are going to be able to secure strong, tough sanctions on Iran this spring."
Mr Medvedev indicated that Russia would support further sanctions on Tehran saying that they were "sometimes necessary" but that they must be "smart" and "capable of prompting the right behaviour.
The treaty must now be ratified in the Russian legislature and the US senate but it represented a triumph of diplomacy despite fundamental differences between Washington and Moscow.
It also marks step towards Mr Obama's ambitious goal of total nuclear disarmament and sets the stage for a global conference on nuclear security that Mr Obama is hosting in Washington next week, where Iran will be an important topic.
"If the United States and Russia were to show up with no agreement and between the two of them controlling 95 per cent of the weapons, it's pretty easy for the non-nuclear states to say, 'well you're not doing your part, why should we?" said Steven Pifer, an arms control expert at the Brookings Institution, a US think tank.
Critics, however, have claimed that the agreement fudges vital details. Under its terms Russia's long range nuclear bombers count as one device even though the planes have the capacity to carry up to 12 bombs.
Republican leaders in the US have expressed concerns that Mr Obama has promised that the US will not develop new nuclear weapons, despite advances in technology that would make its arsenal more secure.
Russian analysts say Russia needs the deal to ease the burden of replacing a large number of aging Soviet-built missiles. "This treaty is in Russia's best interests," said Sergei Rogov, the head of the USA and Canada Institute, an influential think tank.
Mr Obama also used the visit to meet central and eastern European leaders over dinner last night.
http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-engl ... 03528.html
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