US official says talks with Russia on new arms control treaty are in final stretch
By APWednesday, February 3, 2010
US, Russia nearing arms control agreement
PARIS — President Barack Obama’s arms control adviser says talks with Russia on the first major arms control treaty since 1991 are “in the endgame.”
U.S. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher says that only “technical annexes” remain to be ironed out. She didn’t elaborate.
She says she expects the Obama administration to submit the treaty for U.S. Senate ratification this year and appears confident it will pass despite “polarized” American politics.
Tauscher spoke Wednesday at a disarmament conference in Paris.
The treaty is to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expired in December.
START required each country to cut nuclear warheads by about one-fourth to about 6,000. The new treaty would pare them more dramatically.
Tags: Barack Obama, Eastern Europe, Europe, France, Geography, International Agreements, North America, Paris, Russia, United States, Weapons Administration, Western Europe
