Obama and Medvedev Discuss Arms Treaty

On Saturday, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev spoke for 30 minutes by telephone about "START" (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991 which expired in December).  The new treaty would reduce the active nuclear arsenals of both countries by more than one-quarter. It would require each side to reduce deployed strategic nuclear warheads from 2,200 to roughly 1,600, and reduce strategic bombers and land- and sea-based missiles to below 800, down from the old limit of 1,600.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry, who is responsible for leading the treaty through the Senate, said that the "administration administration is appropriately holding out for what we need to make the treaty verifiable and that will help it pass." John Kerry's counterpart, committee ranking Senate Republican Richard Lugar, remains hopeful that it will be signed and that there will be time assigned on the floor for debate and a vote this year, Lugar said he would support the treaty "unless there are extraordinary changes beyond those that I've heard about."

President Obama and President Medvedev tried to resolve remaining differences before forty-four nations arrive for the nuclear summit meeting in Washington DC in mid-April.   In a statement, the Kremlin said "It is now possible to talk about specific dates for the submission of the draft Start treaty for signing by the heads of state." White House spokesman, Mike Hammer, said the leaders "had a good conversation" about "the progress and consensus reached" in Geneva negotiations.  He added that the "results of their talks are encouraging, and both leaders are committed to concluding an agreement soon." While most of the substance has been settled for months, missile defense and verification have proved hard to resolve.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with President Medvedev next week in Moscow.   Philip J. Crowley of the State Department stated that "she will have a number of meetings while there. I am confident that the subjects will include not only the Middle East, but also Iran, START, and other topics."

Citizens for Global Solutions supports efforts to ratify a new START successor treaty and looks forward to the completion of successful negotiations very soon.

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