Obama, Medvedev Agree to New Nuclear Arms Talks

President will visit Moscow in July
By Jason Farago,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 1, 2009 7:58 AM CDT
Obama, Medvedev Agree to New Nuclear Arms Talks
In this March 23, 2009 file photo, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev looks on during his visit to the Southern Federal Center for Sports Training in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, the Russian city that will host the 2014 Winter Olympics. Medvedev will meet with U.S. President Barck Obama when he travels...   (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)

Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev pledged to "move beyond Cold War mentalities" at their first ever meeting, at the American ambassador's residence in London. The two presidents agreed to negotiate a new weapons treaty that would see both countries reduce their nuclear stockpiles—the first such talks for more than a decade. Obama also accepted an invitation to visit Moscow this July.

While no firm numbers were given in today's joint statement, Obama and Medvedev did say that they want a new treaty in place by December, when the 1991 START treaty expires. The leaders also called on Iran to "restore confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature" of its nuclear program and expressed concern about North Korea's upcoming ballistic missile launch. (More Barack Obama stories.)

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