US and Russia at odds over terms of nuclear treaty

THE UNITED States and Russia are poised to sign a new nuclear arms reduction treaty in Prague early next month, but they disagreed yesterday over whether its terms had been finalised.

Moscow and Washington have been negotiating for a year over a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) which expired in December, but a deal has been complicated by Kremlin objections to US plans to create a missile defence system in central Europe.

“As of now, all the documents on the new Start treaty have been agreed upon,” said a Kremlin official who asked not to be identified. “Prague is indeed considered the most likely venue for the signing of the new Start treaty,” he added.

In Washington, however, officials said talk of a done deal was premature, as was speculation over the exact date when President Barack Obama and Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev would sign it.

“We are still working to finalise a new Start treaty but we have talked to our Czech allies and the Russians about a signing in Prague when the treaty is finished,” said state department spokesman Mark Toner. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs added: “We are very close to having an agreement on a Start treaty, but we won’t have one until President Obama and his counterpart Mr Medvedev have a chance to speak. There are still some things that need to be worked out.”

The two leaders agreed last July to cut their countries’ nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads. The US currently has some 2,200 nuclear warheads and Russia is believed to have about 3,000. The US wants to have a deal signed before it hosts a nuclear security summit on April 12th-13th, and a meeting in the capital of the Czech Republic could be arranged around Mr Medvedev’s planned visit to neighbouring Slovakia on April 6th-7th.

The timing and location would have particular resonance because Mr Obama said in a speech in Prague last April that arms reduction would be a priority of his presidency.

Russian politicians have threatened to block ratification of a treaty unless it contains reassuring provisions on US plans for a missile defence system in central Europe, to counter a perceived threat from an Iranian missile attack.

Mikhail Margelov, chairman of the foreign affairs committee of the upper house of Russia’s parliament, said “a political compromise has been reached” on the issue.

Mr Obama has made reaching a new arms control pact a cornerstone of his effort to improve relations between the two largest atomic powers.