 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
US hopes to clinch draft START deal by end December
Washington (AFP) Nov 30, 2009 The United States said Monday it hopes to clinch a draft of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia by the end of December to replace the existing accord that expires Saturday. "Our negotiators in Geneva... are working very hard to try and get a draft agreement," State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said. "What we're saying now is that we're hoping to get this draft agreement by the end of December." During a visit by US President Barack Obama to Moscow earlier this year, both sides called for a cut in the number of nuclear warheads in the Russian and US strategic arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 within seven years. Kelly did not want to raise expectations that a new deal could be reached by Saturday's deadline but added: "I cannot rule that out because I know they're all working overtime to try and iron out the differences that remain." US and Russian negotiators have met repeatedly in Geneva in recent months to thrash out a replacement for START, which imposes strict limits on the atomic arsenals of the two former Cold War foes. A major obstacle to a deal was eliminated in September when the Obama administration announced it was scrapping a plan to deploy a missile shield in eastern Europe which was fiercely opposed by Russia. But media reports in recent weeks have suggested that the talks have hit snags over the monitoring of Russian missiles and limits on the number of "carriers" capable of delivering nuclear warheads. Kelly said, "two main priorities here are significant reductions in nuclear arsenals and also preserving the verifications and monitoring mechanisms that are at the heart of the START treaty." Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com All about missiles at SpaceWar.com Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Iran condemned by UN nuclear watchdogVienna (AFP) Nov 27, 2009 The UN nuclear watchdog on Friday passed a resolution condemning Iran for secretly building a uranium enrichment plant and demanded the Islamic republic freeze construction of the facility. China and Russia joined forces with Britain, France, Germany and the United States to push through a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency's board on the second and last day of its ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2009 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook