The United States and Russia opened talks on a new nuclear arms reduction treaty today as President Obama met his Russian counterpart for the first time ahead of the G20 summit in London.
Their joint statement was the high point of Mr Obama’s packed first day on the world stage, marked by key first encounters with the toughest challengers to American hegemony: Russia and China.
Mr Obama and President Medvedev emerged smiling from their 90-minute meeting at the American Ambassador’s residence in Regent’s Park to issue their statement. They also announced that the US President would visit Russia in July.
Weeks of diplomatic groundwork went into the agreement with Mr Medvedev to open talks toward a new arms control treaty to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty when it expires in December.
By tackling first what Moscow regards as the least contentious issue between them, Washington hopes to create a positive concrete achievement on which to build fresh relations.
“We, the leaders of Russia and the United States, are ready to move beyond Cold War mentalities and chart a fresh start in relations between our two countries,” the leaders said in their statement.
They pledged to begin negotiations on a new legally binding treaty under which both would permanently reduce their nuclear arsenals below any previously agreed level.
Less concrete were references to Washington’s controversial missile defence system in Eastern Europe, on which they reported only discussions on the “new possibilities for mutual international co-operation”.
The statement marks not only a break from the strained relations between Washington and Moscow under President Bush, but also a reflection of the tilting balance of power following the global financial meltdown.
China comes to the G20 table leading the clamour of the developing world for a bigger say in the workings of global financial institutions like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
At their first meeting in London today, Mr Obama promised to back President Hu Jintao’s calls for a redistribution of economic decision-making power in favour of developing nations, a recognition of China’s key role as the US’s biggest foreign creditor.
Mr Obama will propose that five countries — China, Brazil, Russia, Mexico and India — should be given more influence on IMF lending decisions in return for tens of billions of dollars in new donations to the global pot. That is likely to be met with some nervousness in European capitals, which are protective of their influence over such institutions.
Beijing’s bailout billions have put it in an unprecedented position to push its influence on the world stage, reflected in its increasing outspokenness on the failures of Western-style capitalism.
Its proposal, along with Russia, for a new global reserve currency to replace the US dollar may still be fantasy, but the airing it gets at the G20 meeting will be deeply symbolic of the shifting geopolitical realities.
Russia lacks China’s economic clout, but its nuclear arsenal remains one of the few areas in which it enjoys near parity with the United States.
Russia’s nuclear weaponry is rapidly ageing and some senior military commanders have already called for its replacement to be scrapped to preserve the budget for conventional weaponry
Source:the times
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