Russia says US, Russian negotiators could reach new pact to limit nuclear arms within hours
By APFriday, December 18, 2009
Russia says arms deal with US could be near
MOSCOW — Russian and American negotiators could reach a new nuclear arms-control deal within the next few hours, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said Friday, but U.S. officials downplayed prospects for such rapid progress.
Andrei Nesterenko’s statement came shortly before Friday’s meeting of U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on the sidelines of the climate summit in Copenhagen.
Nesterenko voiced hope that U.S. and Russian negotiators at negotiations in Geneva could quickly iron out the remaining disagreements, possibly within hours.
“We hope that all remaining issues will be settled in the nearest time, maybe even within the next few hours,” he said.
Later a Russian lawmaker who closely follows the negotiations, Konstantin Kosachev, said “an agreement was sucessfully concluded literally today.”
“All that is left is the technical details, which remain to be finalized down to the last comma,” the Interfax agency quoted him as saying.
But Michael Parmly, spokesman for the U.S. diplomatic mission in Geneva, downplayed the upbeat assessment from Moscow.
“It’s extremely complex putting together a treaty like this,” Parmly told The Associated Press.
“If you’re expecting a signing ceremony by the end of the year, that would be a tough calendar,” Parmly said. “In the mean time, though, they’re working.”
Officials in Washington say the talks have bogged down and appear unlikely to be concluded by the year’s end as the White House had hoped. The new deal should replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START I, that expired Dec. 5.
Obama and Medvedev agreed at a Moscow summit in July to cut the number of nuclear warheads that each possesses to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years as part of a broad new treaty.
They initially had instructed negotiators to seek a fully ratified deal by the Dec. 5 expiration of START. Recently Obama had expressed hopes that a deal could be completed by the end of this year.
Associated Press Writer Eliane Engeler in Geneva contributed to this report.
Tags: Barack Obama, Copenhagen, Denmark, Eastern Europe, Europe, Geneva, International Agreements, Moscow, North America, Russia, Switzerland, United States, Weapons Administration, Western Europe
