Russia and the United States have moved significantly closer to agreement on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Moscow indicated today (see GSN, Oct. 8).
In July, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to reduce their nations' respective deployed strategic nuclear stockpiles to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads under the new treaty. That is down from a 2,200-warhead cap set by the 2002 Moscow Treaty for implementation by 2012. The leaders also agreed to limit strategic delivery vehicles on each side to between 500 and 1,100.
"We have made substantial movement forward," Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov told reporters during an appearance today in Moscow with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Oct. 13).
"At the same time, we have discussed issues which have yet to be negotiated and fine-tuned," Lavrov added, according to the the Xinhua News Agency (Xinhua News Agency, Oct. 13).
Medvedev said the powers still have a reasonable chance of finalizing the new pact before the 1991 agreement expires on Dec. 5, Agence France-Presse reported.
"We have given our negotiators the task of finishing a deal in time. I think the chances are really not bad," the Russian president said in a television interview aired Friday.
"But it will be necessary to show wisdom on both sides, a desire to listen to one another and an understanding of certain contemporary realities," he said, providing no further details.
Talks on the nuclear treaty are scheduled to resume Oct. 19 in Geneva, Switzerland (Agence France-Presse II, Oct. 9).