Russia and the United States appear likely to ink a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty before the 1991 pact lapses on Dec. 5, an adviser to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 29).
Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed in July to cut their nations' respective deployed strategic nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads under the new agreement, down from the 2,200-warhead limit the states are required to meet by 2012. The leaders also pledged to restrict strategic delivery vehicles on each side to between 500 and 1,100.
"We are still optimistic about ... signing a new agreement this year which will imply huge progress for the world in this matter," Kremlin adviser Arkady Dvorkovich said, according to Reuters. "We have a very good and constructive dialogue right now on this matter. I think the obstacles are mostly technical and we can complete in time" (Tom Pfeiffer, Reuters, Nov. 1).
The powers hope to reach agreement on the new treaty before Dec. 10, when Obama is scheduled to accept the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in Oslo, Norway, a Kremlin source told Kommersant (see GSN, Oct. 9).
"Our partners want the document to be signed before the Nobel Peace Prize is given to Barack Obama. We are not against this," the source said, according to Agence France-Presse (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, Oct. 30).
The sides plan to begin their next round of treaty negotiations on Nov. 9, the Xinhua News Agency reported today.
"On Oct. 19-30, a regular round of Russia-U.S. talks on a new accord to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START-1) was held in Geneva," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a press release.
"The parties continued intensive work to approve the text of a new agreement, bearing in mind that in accordance with the instructions of the presidents of both countries it must be signed by Dec. 5, 2009," the ministry added (Xinhua News Agency/China View, Nov. 2).