President
Obama, Russian President Medvedev and Czech
President Vaclav
Klaus, share a toast at Prague Castle, April 8.
Kommersant, Russia
Russia and America Call for 'Universal Nuclear Disarmament'
Dmitry
Medvedev and Barack Obama signed an agreement on the reduction and limitation of
offensive strategic weapons - and they set a new goal for themselves: to lead
the world toward 'global nuclear zero.' Those who seek to resist will be
punished with sanctions by Moscow and Washington - and the first in line is Iran.
President Obama and Russian President
Medvedev after signing START - the new U.S.-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, in Prague. Eastern Europeans are concerned about how this may herald a period of expanded Russian influence.
Yesterday, Dmitry Medvedev
and Barack Obama put an end to an almost epic search and preparation for the
signing of a new Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which took almost a full year. In the
Spanish Hall of Prague’s presidential palace, the presidents signed the treaty
itself and the multi-page protocol
with undisguised relief. And as soon as the signatures appeared on the
documents, Moscow and Washington removed the embargo on the publication of
their contents, the details of which were aggressively sought by Russian and
American journalists for the entire year. The treaty and protocol were released
simultaneously yesterday, and were freely available on Kremlin and White House
Web sites. Now it's up to the parliaments of the two countries, which have
already begun consultations on the possibility of synchronized ratification of
the treaty. To do this, Presidents Medvedev and Obama brought with them to
Prague the leaders of senior parliamentary committees, who have already begun
coordinating their efforts.
Dmitry Medvedev and Barack
Obama appeared satisfied with their work, which wasn't confined to mechanically
signing the treaty. Throughout the year, the two men have repeatedly taken the initiative
into their own hands, personally leading their respective delegations of
negotiators out of dead end situations in Geneva. And now they seem pleased. In
any case, at the closing press conference they said that START has helped
foster a true rapprochement between the countries. And in response to a
question from Kommersant on whether any other Russian-American
agreements in the more “peaceful” areas could be anticipated, the presidents pledged
to embark on more economic cooperation.
"Today's ceremony in Prague is a
testament to the truth that old adversaries can forge new partnerships," Barack
Obama said, turning to his Russian colleague, who gladly accepted the pass. "The
treaty has helped us take a new path. A very good personal relationship and very
good personal chemistry has emerged, as they say.”
This phrase the Russian
president used sounded no worse, perhaps, than the one uttered by George Bush
Jr. at one point, about how he had looked into Vladimir Putin’s eyes. But Misters
Obama and Medvedev quickly transitioned from sentiment and got to the point
- the point being what they intend to address in the near future.
President Obama recalled that
it was precisely here a year ago, in Prague, that he proclaimed the necessity
of moving toward a nuclear-free world - global nuclear zero.
"This is a long-term goal - one that may not even
be achieved in my lifetime. But I believed then, as I do now, that the pursuit
of that goal will move us further," President Obama said with inspiration.
According to the American
president, the disarmament agreement between the Russian Federation and United
States, which possess 90 percent of the world’s nuclear potential, must become an
example for other countries that already have such weapons or aspire to possess
them. To the latter, Mr. Obama was relentless.
"But nuclear weapons are not simply an issue for
the United States and Russia," began Barack Obama, "the spread of
nuclear weapons to more states is also an unacceptable risk to global security."
Now fully in command of the attention in the hushed
audience, the American president struck: "Those nations that refuse to
meet their obligations will be isolated."
Posted by WORLDMEETS.US
And just to make sure
everything was entirely clear, he explained precisely who he had in mind. "We
are working together at the United Nations Security Council to pass strong
sanctions on Iran."
Dimity Medvedev expressed his
readiness to do everything to make Washington's long-standing wish come true.
"Iran isn't responding to the many constructive proposals that have been
made, and we can't turn a blind eye to this. Therefore, I do not rule out the
possibility that the U.N. Security Council will have to review this issue again.
Before
the signing: President Obama and Secretary of State
Clinton,
after meeting the Russians at Prague Castle, April 8.
As far as the idea of a "nuclear
zero," Dmitry Medvedev found it interesting. While answering Kommersant's
question on when another agreement similar to START could be expected - but with
a larger circle of nuclear power participants, he said, "It's hard to imagine
a situation in which we disarm while others move in the opposite direction.
There was a budding sense
that the authorities in Russia and U.S. had reached an agreement in principal on
the need to punish Tehran for its intransigence. All that's left now is to
decide how. Dmitry Medvedev yesterday reiterated for “smart sanctions.” Mr.
Obama, in turn, repeated several times that the sanctions must be severe.
Moscow’s position on the issue was only partly clarified by a Kommersant
source within the Russian delegation, according to which Moscow still intends to
finish building the Bushehr
nuclear power plant. Which means that the sanctions have to be sufficiently
“smart” not to interfere with this process.
