U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev plan to discuss nuclear arms control during their first meeting in April on the sidelines of a G-20 summit in London, Interfax reported Friday (see GSN, Feb. 11).
Both leaders have expressed an interest in extending key provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, scheduled to expire in December.
"Nuclear cooperation and arms control, especially the importance of reaching a post-START agreement that suits both of our interests, will be a very important item" of their discussion, said U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns during a visit to Moscow last week.
He said Washington has not yet submitted any specific proposals to Moscow, but he expected they would reach beyond the limits of START and the 2002 Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty (Interfax I, Feb. 13).
"The administration of President Obama is committed to negotiating a legally binding follow-on agreement to START. An agreement that preserves a strong verification of the regime and an agreement that aims at [a] further reduction of nuclear arsenals beyond the levels of the Moscow Treaty," Burns said (Interfax II, Feb. 13).