The United States and Russia have reached an "agreement in principle" to slash their nuclear weapons stockpiles, the first such pact in nearly two decades, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday.

State Department officials could not immediately confirm the report which said the two sides agreed to lower the ceiling for deployed nuclear weapons from the 2,200 decided on in 1991 to between 1,500 and 1,675.

It would mark a breakthrough in months of negotiations to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which led to deep cuts in both nuclear arsenals after it was signed in 1991 before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The Wall Street Journal, citing administration and arms control officials, said US and Russian arms control negotiators reached an "agreement in principle" on the nuclear arms reduction pact.

It said that the deal, in addition to reducing deployed nuclear weapons, would lower nuclear delivery systems more sharply to between 700 and 800 a side.

The breakthrough in the negotiations came two weeks ago when National Security Adviser James Jones and Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, went to Moscow to overcome stumbling blocks, it said.

Those involved two issues on verification, sharing information on missile flight tests and inspections at missile production plants, it said.

The Wall Street Journal said the agreement was approved in principle last week during a telephone conversation between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

Question arose as to whether the START talks were in trouble after negotiators missed a December 5 deadline.

Nor was there a deal by January 1, even though Obama's White House said on December 17 that it still aimed to "conclude a good and verifiable (START) agreement by the end of the year."

However, analysts said negotiators were under pressure to clinch a pact in the run-up to a May review conference for the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which obliges the nuclear powers to show progress on disarmament.

earlier related report

Gorbachev gives Obama thumbs-up
Faraya, Lebanon (AFP) Feb 2, 2010 –

Despite slipping in US opinion polls a year after his election, US President Barack Obama still has the firm support of former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

At a news conference in Lebanon on Tuesday, Gorbachev had kind words for fellow Nobel laureate Obama, as the United States relaunched talks with Russia on a nuclear disarmament treaty.

"The election of Obama was not an accident," Gorbachev said from the ski town of Faraya, northeast of the capital, where he was invited to give a lecture later on Tuesday.

"It is true however that there has been some slippage in support for him," Gorbachev said.

A number of opinion polls in January showed Americans sharply divided on Obama's first year in office.

While he said that he liked Obama "a great deal," Gorbachev acknowledged the difficulties facing the US president as he attempts to change his country's policies.

"US policy is changing, but it's a difficult process," he said.

Gorbachev, the Soviet Union's last leader before its breakup in 1991, said the United States had missed "many opportunities" but seemed to be back on track under Obama.

The 79-year-old expressed firm support for the renewal of US-Russian talks on nuclear arms control.

"I am very pleased that now Obama has changed course and has gone back to dialogue and the process of nuclear arms control," said Gorbachev, speaking through an interpreter.

Russia and the United States on Monday resumed marathon talks in Geneva to renew a key nuclear disarmament treaty which expired in December.

Discussions had largely stalled under George W. Bush's presidency but Russian and US delegations have been meeting regularly since last May to conclude a a new agreement to replace the landmark 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), which expired on December 5.

Share This Article With Planet Earth