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US, Russia sign milestone disarmament treaty
[Al Arabiya Latest] United States President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev signed a landmark treaty Thursday committing their nations to major nuclear arms cuts.Under the new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the former Cold War foes will be allowed a maximum of 1,550 deployed warheads, about 30 percent lower than a limit set in 2002. It also imposes limits on the air and submarine-borne intercontinental ballistic missiles that carry warheads. Agreed after months of hard bargaining, the two presidents signed the treaty in the renaissance Spanish Hall of Prague Castle. Medvedev and Obama sat side by side to sign the successor to the 1991 START treaty which was also a major step in efforts to ease the often strained relations between their countries. Obama called it "an extraordinary event" and an "important milestone" for attempts to restrict nuclear arms as well as for U.S.-Russia relations. He called the treaty "one step on a longer journey" which would lead to further cuts in the universal arsenal. Obama said the two nations, which between them have more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear arms, had to show "responsible global leadership." Medvedev said the treaty "enables us to rise to a higher level of cooperation between Russia and the United States" while also declaring that the negotiations "have not been simple". Posted by: Fred 2010-04-09 |
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