Opinion - News Analysis   

Obama move on arms reduction treaty: a major policy shift

Russia and the United States have pressed the “reset button” agreeing to remedy their badly frayed ties during U.S. President Barack Obama’s first visit to Moscow.

In two days of talks on July 6 and 7, the two countries agreed to slash their nuclear arsenals, dramatically expand anti-terror cooperation in Afghanistan and upgrade bilateral ties in all spheres.

Addressing a joint press conference after the talks Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said the two sides had taken “a first but very important step in the process of improving full-scale cooperation between our two countries.”

Mr. Obama said that six months after the U.S. and Russia resolved to reset their relations, “we’ve done exactly that by taking concrete steps forward on a range of issues, while paving the way for more progress in the future.”

Apart from several hours of talks with Mr. Medvedev, Mr. Obama also met Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, whom he had earlier described as a leader who had “one foot in the past.” The U.S. President sought to reach out to Mr. Putin, lauding his tandem with Mr. Medvedev and praising his “extraordinary work” for the progress of Russia.

The Russian and U.S. President signed a Joint Understanding a framework agreement to reduce the two countries’ nuclear arsenals from 2,200 to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads and from 1,600 to between 500 and 1,100 delivery vehicles. The cuts will be formalised in a new treaty the sides aim to sign by December. It will be the first full-fledged arms control treaty between the two countries since the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1), which was negotiated in the final days of the Cold War and expires on December 5. Mr. Obama’s decision to negotiate the new treaty marked a major shift of policy from the previous U.S. Administration of George W. Bush, who refused to commit the U.S. to any legally binding and verifiable arms control pacts.

Mr. Medvedev called the agreement a “reasonable compromise.” Moscow has agreed not to press the U.S. for the time being to renounce its missile defence plans for Europe. Washington in turn agreed to include in the new nuclear arms pact a “provision on a link between strategic offensive and strategic defensive weapons,” as demanded by Russia.

In another historic agreement signed during Mr. Obama’s visit Russia has allowed the U.S. to fly weapons, hardware and troops across its territory to Afghanistan. Until now, the Pentagon could only transport non-lethal supplies across Russia. The accord enables the U.S. military to undertake 12 flights a day (4,500 flights a year) in the Russian air space. The White House said this would enable the U.S. to diversify its transport routes, move troops and supplies to Afghanistan more quickly, and to save up to $133 million a year in transit costs.

Russia and the U.S. agreed to resurrect an inter-government body that was established in the 1990s but withered under Mr. Bush. The new commission will have a higher, presidential status and will cover all areas of bilateral relations, from drug trafficking to arms control, and from energy to education.

The two Presidents also signed a statement on nuclear cooperation, pledging to bring into force a 123 nuclear pact that was put on the backburner by the Bush Administration.

Officials on both sides conceded that strong differences remained on such issues as U.S. missile defence, NATO expansion, Georgia and Iran.

“We cannot in a few hours shed the load of all the problems that have accumulated over a long period of time,” Mr. Medvedev said after his talks with Mr. Obama. But, he added, “We have agreed that we will move forward non-stop, and take decisions that are essential for the development of ties between our countries.”

In a keynote address to Russian students on Tuesday Mr. Obama said: “Let me be clear: America wants a strong, peaceful and prosperous Russia.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

King of kings
Don’t judge budget by market reaction
Higher education & research in India
Obama move on arms reduction treaty: a major policy shift
Noncommunicable disease gap in the development agenda
Corrections and clarifications
Correction
Union budget
Path-breaking
‘Not a single Tamil house was attacked, not a single Tamil humiliated’

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu