“Dmitri, we agreed,” Mr. Obama told Mr. Medvedev with a tone of exasperation, according to advisers. “We can’t do this. If it means we’re going to walk away from this treaty and not get it done, so be it. But we’re not going to go down this path.”
Mr. Obama hung up and vented frustration. Some of his advisers had never seen him so mad. A picture taken by a White House photographer captured his grim face in that moment of uncertainty. For a year he had been trying to forge a new relationship with Russia, starting with a treaty to slash nuclear arsenals. And for a year Russia had been testing him, suspecting he was weak and certain it could roll over him.
If Mr. Obama overestimated his powers of persuasion in reaching quick agreement with the Russians, they misjudged how far they could get him to bend. In the end, they compromised on nonbinding language. And so, after all the fits and starts, all the miscalculations, the vodka toasts that proved premature and the stare-downs that nearly sank the whole enterprise, Mr. Obama hung up the phone again with Mr. Medvedev on Friday, this time having finally translated aspiration into agreement.
IN A blow to Australia's credibility in global nuclear debates, the Rudd government has ignored a key finding from its own inquiry into disarmament, one that called for limits on the use of atomic weapons in war.
A joint working paper drawn up by Australia and Japan before a major review of global nuclear controls was released yesterday in which the two countries argue for a reduced role for atomic weapons in national security strategies.
But a telling omission from the paper was any call for nuclear weapons to be dedicated to the ''sole purpose'' of deterring nuclear attack - the key recommendation of a report commissioned by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and co-sponsored by Australia and Japan.
It is believed the phrase was left out to avoid embarrassing the US - ally to both Australia and Japan - while the administration of President Barack Obama grapples with a review of America's nuclear policy.
WASHINGTON — The arms control treaty being completed by the United States and Russia represents another step toward closing the books on the defining struggle of the final half of the 20th century. But it also marks the opening of a broader campaign to counter the emerging threats of the 21st century.
The treaty that the two sides hope to finalize as early as Friday will require hundreds of nuclear weapons to be shelved or destroyed, still just a fraction of the formidable arsenals maintained by the former cold war adversaries. But perhaps more important than the numbers is the tangible evidence of a new partnership with Russia and momentum toward a revamped nuclear security regime.
If President Obama signs the treaty with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia in Prague on April 8 as expected, it will give Mr. Obama a stronger hand heading into two back-to-back nuclear summit meetings where he wants to push toward the nuclear weapons-free world he envisions. At the two meetings, Mr. Obama hopes to forge international consensus to limit the spread of weapons and secure materials that could be vulnerable to terrorists, efforts that could be accelerated by the new treaty.
President Obama meeting last year in London with President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia. They have negotiated arms cuts.
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After months of deadlock and delay, the two sides have agreed to lower the limit on deployed strategic warheads by more than one-quarter and launchers by half, the officials said. The treaty will impose a new inspection regime to replace one that lapsed in December, but will not restrict American plans for missile defense based in Europe.
President Obama and President Dmitri A. Medvedev of Russia plan to talk Friday to complete the agreement, but officials said they were optimistic that the deal was nearly done. The two sides have begun preparing for a signing ceremony in Prague on April 8, timing it to mark the anniversary of Mr. Obama’s speech in the Czech capital outlining his vision for eventually ridding the world of nuclear weapons.
The new treaty represents perhaps the most concrete foreign policy achievement for Mr. Obama since he took office 14 months ago and the most significant result of his effort to “reset” the troubled relationship with Russia. The administration wants to use it to build momentum for an international nuclear summit meeting in Washington just days after the signing ceremony and a more ambitious round of arms cuts later in his term.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/world/europe/25start.html?ref=global-home
Mr. President,
It is my great honour to be given the opportunity today to address this august body of the Conference on Disarmament of Geneva. With the forthcoming Global Nuclear Security Summit and NPT Review Conference, this year is a critical juncture towards the realization of "a world without nuclear weapons". Japan believes that nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation should be globally tackled in a focused and practical way, and we are determined to play an active role in this area.
Mr. President,
It should be applauded that last year the Conference on Disarmament, which is the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community, overcame 11 years of paralysis and adopted a programme of work. The international community pinned great hopes on this move. It was regrettable, however, that after this development, agreement could not be reached on implementing the programme of work that the Conference itself had adopted. To ensure concrete progress in the Conference on Disarmament, the CD member states should concentrate their efforts on an early adoption of a programme of work based on last year's agreement through serious discussions among the member states and through the spirit of cooperation. For dealing with the current situation, Japan hopes the six presidents of 2010 will continue to take initiatives, which we will provide our utmost support to assist.
Mr. President,
While the current international community is under the threat of nuclear weapons development and the risk of nuclear terrorism, it is critical for the whole world to advance steady efforts in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. At the UN Security Council Summit last September, Prime Minister Hatoyama talked of Japan's moral responsibility as the only country that has ever experienced atomic bombings and expressed our determination to take the lead in the pursuit of the elimination of nuclear weapons.
In this connection, let me note some of Japan's activities in the pursuit of this goal. At the General Assembly last year, we submitted a resolution on the elimination of nuclear weapons with 87 co-sponsor countries and it was adopted with the support of an overwhelming majority. We have promoted the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and contributed to the technical aspects associated with the setting up of its verification system. We have been active in reinforcing the International Atomic Energy Agency's safeguards system and taken initiatives to universalize the Additional Protocol. Japan has also promoted disarmament and non-proliferation education in civil society. Furthermore, we launched the International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament as a joint initiative with Australia, which issued its report last December. Japan has rendered its highest support to the Commission.
full-statement http://www.mofa.go.jp/policy/un/disarmament/arms/statement100304.html
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
Forty years ago today, in the midst of a Cold War, the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) entered into force, becoming the cornerstone of the world’s efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. Today, the threat of global nuclear war has passed, but the danger of nuclear proliferation endures, making the basic bargain of the NPT more important than ever: nations with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, nations without nuclear weapons will forsake them, and all nations have an “inalienable right” to peaceful nuclear energy.
Each of these three pillars -- disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses -- are central to the vision that I outlined in Prague of stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and seeking a world without them.
To promote disarmament, the United States is working with Russia to complete negotiations on a new START Treaty that will significantly reduce our nuclear arsenals. Our forthcoming Nuclear Posture Review will move beyond outdated Cold War thinking and reduce the number and role of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy, even as we maintain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent. In addition, we will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a treaty to end the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons.
To prevent proliferation, we will build on the historic resolution that we achieved at the United Nations Security Council last September by bringing together more than 40 nations at our Nuclear Security Summit next month with the goal of securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. At this spring’s treaty review conference and beyond, we will continue to work with allies and partners to strengthen the NPT and to enforce the rights and responsibilities of every nation, because the world cannot afford additional proliferation or regional arms races.
Finally, to ensure the peaceful use of nuclear energy, the United States seeks a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation among nations, including an international fuel bank and the necessary resources and authority to strengthen the International Atomic Energy Agency. For nations that uphold their responsibilities, peaceful nuclear energy can help unlock advances in medicine, agriculture and economic development.
It took years of focused effort among many nations to bring the NPT into force four decades ago and to sustain it as the most widely embraced nuclear agreement in history. On this 40th anniversary, the United States reaffirms our resolve to strengthen the nonproliferation regime to meet the challenges of the 21st century as we pursue our ultimate vision of a world without nuclear weapons.
