U.S., Russia reopening nuclear arms talks

by Christi Parsons and Mark Silva

LONDON -- The United States and Russia have agreed to reopen talks about curtailing their arsenals of nuclear warheads, marking the first major arms discussions since 1997, with President Barack Obama saying today that he has accepted an invitation to travel to Moscow in July.

Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, announcing their intention to "move beyond Cold War mentalities'' and reopen arms talks at a meeting today on the sidelines of the G-20 summit in London, hope to reduce the number of nuclear warheads that each nation controls.

The leaders plan to discuss a possible replacement for an expiring 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limited the world's two largest nuclear arsenals to between 1,700 and 2,200 nuclear warheads. That agreement, known as START, expires on Dec. 5.

"Reaffirming that the era when our countries viewed each other as enemies is long over, and recognizing our many common interests, we today established a substantive agenda for Russia and the United States to be developed over the coming months and years,'' Obama and Medvedev said in a joint statement issued today in London.

"We committed our two countries to achieving a nuclear free world, while recognizing that this long-term goal will require a new emphasis on arms control and conflict resolution measures, and their full implementation by all concerned nations,'' the two said in their statement. " We agreed to pursue new and verifiable reductions in our strategic offensive arsenals in a step-by-step process.''

Obama and Mevedev, successors to two leaders who had developed an on-again and off-again relationship - former President George W. Bush and former Russian President Vladimir Putin, now prime minister - are voicing a commitment to jointly confront the question of nuclear proliferation in a shifting world balance of power that now includes many nuclear-armed nations.

Nevertheless, any road to a new agreement could be difficult for two nations whose relations have been strained in recent years by disagreements over many issues - including the Bush administration's desire to deploy an anti-missile defensive shield in Poland and the Czech Republic guarding against "rogue'' threats such as Iran.

"They have a lot of work to get this done by the end of December,'' a senior Obama administration official said of Obama and Medvedev. This is an aspirational agenda ... We don't have any illusions about how hard it will be to get agreement .... The statement is the beginning of a long process. We have our eyes wide open about how hard it will be."

Yet this official suggested that both Obama and Medvedev had come a long way during their first talks in London.

"The thing I would emphasize about the joint statement ... this was an ambitious agenda. I was not optimistic that we would get it done for this meeting,'' the administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "It showed the president's ambition in producing a workmanlike agenda. This is a document of work, not a document of flowery language .... I give President Medvedev credit, too.... He got his government to engage in it in a very serious way."

Obama and Medvedev said in their statement that, "while acknowledging that differences remain over the purposes of deployment of missile defense assets in Europe, we discussed new possibilities for mutual international cooperation in the field of missile defense... The relationship between offensive and defensive arms will be discussed by the two governments. ''

Another senior U.S. official suggested that there is enough hope of cooperation that Obama was able to accept the Russian president's invitation to travel to Moscow this summer.

"If the START expires, there are technical ways to get around that,'' this official said. But "the president said he wants a new agreement. It's important .... You may have forgotten how difficult it was to negotiate the first START agreement."

The two leaders also discussed the potential missile launch by North Korea, the situation in Pakistan and security issues on many other fronts, in addition to voicing cooperation in confronting the global economic crisis.

The two struck a quick chemistry in their talks, part of the bilateral discussions that the new American president is holding with other world leaders during his time in London for a summit of the leaders of G-20 nations focused on addressing the global economic problem.

"They did have a good rapport,'' one U.S. official said. "They were able to address a wide range of issues in a relative short period of time... it's fair to say that rapport was also matched by candor and frankness on areas of disagreement.''

In the joint statement issued by the two leaders, Obama and Medvedev said: "We are resolved to work together to strengthen strategic stability, international security, and jointly meet contemporary global challenges, while also addressing disagreements openly and honestly in a spirit of mutual respect and acknowledgement of each other's perspective. ...

"We discussed measures to overcome the effects of the global economic crisis, strengthen the international monetary and financial system, restore economic growth, and advance regulatory efforts to ensure that such a crisis does not happen again,'' they said.
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"We will strive to give rise to a new dynamic in our economic links including the launch of an intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation and the intensification of our business dialogue,'' they said.

"We, the leaders of Russia and the United States, are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries.,'' the twio leaders said "In just a few months we have worked hard to establish a new tone in our relations. Now it is time to get down to business and translate our warm words into actual achievements of benefit to Russia, the United States, and all those around the world interested in peace and prosperity. ''

Christi Parsons reported from London. Mark Silva reported from Washington.