US, Russian leaders sign agreement to negotiate lower limits on long-range nuclear weapons
By APMonday, July 6, 2009
US and Russia agree to negotiate new arms deal
MOSCOW — President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have signed what they call a “joint understanding” to negotiate a new arms control treaty that would set substantially lower levels of nuclear warheads for both countries.
The deal would replace a nuclear arms treaty that expires in December.
Meeting in Moscow, the two presidents hailed their new approach on arms control. They set a goal of negotiating new limits of between 1,500 and 1,675 deployed strategic warheads. That compares with a current limit of between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads.
They also said their negotiators would work out new limits on the bombers, land-based missiles and submarined-based missiles that carry such warheads. The new limit on those vehicles would be between 500 and 1,100. The current limit is 1,600.
Tags: Barack Obama, Eastern Europe, Eu-obama-nuclear-arms, Europe, European Union, International Agreements, Moscow, North America, Nuclear Weapons, Russia, Russia And Cis, United States, Weapons Administration, Weapons Of Mass Destruction
