Medvedev, Obama agree to intensify work on new START treaty

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(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-08-05 04:12

MOSCOW: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama have agreed to step up work in order to reach a nuclear arsenal cut deal by December, said the Kremlin press service on Tuesday.

The two heads of state reaffirmed their commitment to achieve a new strategic arms reduction treaty in a telephone conversation initiated by the Russian side on Tuesday, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

They agreed to give further guidance to enhance the work of experts in order to arrive at meaningful solutions by December.

They also reiterated the necessity to maintain a trusting relationship between the two presidents and their teams.

Medvedev also sent a message to Obama, congratulating him on the first birthday since taking office.

"I believe that the results of the Moscow meeting make it possible to speak of prospects for constructive cooperation between Russia and the United States on the basis of the principles of mutual respect and of each other's interests being taken into account," the Interfax news agency reported citing the message.

Medvedev and Obama signed a framework document on further reductions and limitations of strategic offensive arms during the Moscow summit in early July.

The document stated that each country plans to cut nuclear warheads to 1,500 to 1,675 "within seven years to come."

Strategic arms reduction treaty (START I), signed in 1991 and due to expire in December, places a limit of 6,000 strategic or long-range nuclear warheads on each side and allows the inspection of weapons.

A subsequent Moscow treaty signed in 2002 called for reducing nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by the end of 2012, but made no provision for verification.

A planned American missile defense system in Europe is widely regarded as an obstacle to a new START deal between the US and Russia.

Washington said the planned shield was targeted against "rogue states" like Iran rather than Russia, while Moscow views the proposal as a major threat to its national security.