Russia sets nuclear arms talks agenda

In Amsterdam, Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev has laid out his plans for the forthcoming arms negotiations with the United States. He will meet President Obama in July in Moscow when a new arms pact to replace the START treaty from 1991 and the so called Moscow agreement will form the centre of their summit.

President Medvedev said: “We are ready to reduce by several times the number of nuclear delivery vehicles compared with the START-1 pact. As far as warheads are concerned, their numbers should be lower than envisaged by the Moscow 2002 pact, which is something we firmly agree with President Obama about.”

The promise of a reduced arsenal by Russia and the negotiations to improve bilateral ties which sank to post Cold War lows under the previous US administration comes with demands. Washington will have to meet Russia’s concerns over the US plans for missile defence in eastern Europe.

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tags: Russia, USA