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United States, Russia sign START treaty in Prague | United States and Russia on Thursday inked the new START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) treaty and marked its completion here. Outlining his vision on the nuclear disarmament,
President Obama, during his speech said: "Today is an important milestone for
nuclear security and non-proliferation, and for U.S.-Russia relations. It fulfils
our common objective to negotiate a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty." "It
includes significant reductions in the nuclear weapons that we will deploy. It
cuts our delivery vehicles by roughly half. It includes a comprehensive verification
regime, which allows us to further build trust. It enables both sides the flexibility
to protect our security, as well as America's unwavering commitment to the security
of our European allies," he said. Obama said that he looks forward to working
with the United States Senate to achieve ratification of this important Treaty
later this year. "While the new START treaty is an important step forward, it
is just one step on a longer journey. As I said last year in Prague, this treaty
will set the stage for further cuts. And going forward, we hope to pursue discussions
with Russia on reducing both our strategic and tactical weapons, including non-deployed
weapons," Obama stated. "President Medvedev and I have also agreed to expand our
discussions on missile defense. This will include regular exchanges of information
about our threat assessments, as well as the completion of a joint assessment
of emerging ballistic missiles. And as these assessments are completed, I look
forward to launching a serious dialogue about Russian-American cooperation on
missile defense," he revealed. Talking about issue of nuclear weapons related
to countries beyond the U.S. and Russia, he said: "But nuclear weapons are not
simply an issue for the United States and Russia - they threaten the common security
of all nations. A nuclear weapon in the hands of a terrorist is a danger to people
everywhere - from Moscow to New York; from the cities of Europe to South Asia.
So next week, 47 nations will come together in Washington to discuss concrete
steps that can be taken to secure all vulnerable nuclear materials around the
world in four years." "And the spread of nuclear weapons to more states is also
an unacceptable risk to global security - raising the specter of arms races from
the Middle East to East Asia," he added. Speaking about the progress in the U.S.-Russia
relations, Obama said: "I also came to office committed to "resetting" relations
between the United States and Russia, and I know that President Medvedev shared
that commitment. As he said at our first meeting in London, our relationship had
started to drift, making it difficult to cooperate on issues of common interest
to our people. And when the United States and Russia are not able to work together
on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations, or for the world. "Together,
we have stopped the drift, and proven the benefits of cooperation," he added.
Mentioning about Treaty and the special day, Obama said: "Finally, this day demonstrates
the determination of the United States and Russia - the two nations that hold
over 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons - to pursue responsible global
leadership. "Together, we are keeping our commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation
Treaty, which must be the foundation of global non-proliferation," he said. |
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