With New START in force, hope for more cooperation
Published 4:00 am Sunday, February 6, 2011
MUNICH — A new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty went into effect Saturday, securing a key foreign policy goal of President Barack Obama and raising hopes among officials on both sides that it will provide the impetus for Moscow and Washington to negotiate further reductions.
“The treaty marks significant progress toward President Obama’s vision of a world without nuclear weapons,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after exchanging ratification papers with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on the sidelines of an international security conference in Munich.
The New START treaty — the first major revamping of nuclear disarmament deals since the late Cold War era — was approved by the U.S. Senate in December after a bruising fight. Russia ratified the deal last month.
Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov suggested that the two countries could build upon the new treaty in other areas, saying that “coordinated efforts” were needed in missile defense, and that Moscow also was willing to talk about tactical nuclear weapon reductions. “We are ready to discuss this very complex topic in the framework of a comprehensive approach to strategic stability,” he said.
He also stressed that any “hypothetical” negotiations on tactical nuclear weapons “must take into consideration not only Russia’s or the U.S. nuclear arsenal but weapons systems of all nuclear and threshold” states.
The 10-year New START treaty, which can be extended by another five years, is a cornerstone of Obama’s efforts to “reset” U.S. relations with Russia, and Clinton called it a “milestone in our strategic partnership.”
Clinton said the Obama administration is in talks with Russia about how the two countries can further work together, including joint exercises and sharing of early-warning data that could form the basis for a cooperative missile defense system.