The US and Russia on Wednesday concluded the first round of talks aimed at replacing a landmark Cold War-era nuclear disarmament treaty before it expires in December.
Negotiators met behind closed doors to discuss a successor to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START I), in high-stakes talks whose outcome could have far-reaching implications for global security.
The initial two-day negotiating session were carried out in a “business-like and constructive atmosphere,” a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman said, adding that the next round would take place in Geneva on June 1 to June 3.
PHOTO: AP
“The sides discussed a wide range of issues involved in preparing the future accord, as well as a possible outline of the report on the talks which is due to be presented to the presidents of both countries in July,” the spokesman said.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier that both sides had agreed to stay quiet about the talks, which are expected to be difficult as negotiators seek to reach a deal before Dec. 5.
The effort to replace the 1991 START I treaty is a central element of US President Barack Obama’s plan to “reset” badly strained ties with Russia.
Productive negotiations could boost Obama’s vision of a world free of atomic weapons and help set the stage for a summit in July when Obama travels to Moscow to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.
Reflecting the difficulties facing negotiators, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday that the final treaty needed to take missile defense into account.
His comments appeared aimed at US plans to install elements of a global missile shield in eastern Europe which have angered Moscow and threaten to undermine the START negotiations.
Talks on finding a successor to START made little progress under Obama’s predecessor, former US president George W. Bush, and many stumbling blocks remain despite a warming of ties under Obama.
Some policy experts have been skeptical that a replacement can be agreed before December.
“The biggest problem on the path to bettering US-Russian relations is the colossal level of political mistrust,” said Nikolai Zlobin, the head of the Russia and Eurasia Project at the World Security Institute in Washington.
“Even if it is possible to someday overcome this mistrust, it won’t happen soon,” he wrote in the Russian state newspaper Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
The US negotiating team in Moscow is led by Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller, while the Russian team is headed by Anatoly Antonov, head of the foreign ministry department for security and disarmament.
In the sweltering streets of Jakarta, buskers carry towering, hollow puppets and pass around a bucket for donations. Now, they fear becoming outlaws. City authorities said they would crack down on use of the sacred ondel-ondel puppets, which can stand as tall as a truck, and they are drafting legislation to remove what they view as a street nuisance. Performances featuring the puppets — originally used by Jakarta’s Betawi people to ward off evil spirits — would be allowed only at set events. The ban could leave many ondel-ondel buskers in Jakarta jobless. “I am confused and anxious. I fear getting raided or even
Eleven people, including a former minister, were arrested in Serbia on Friday over a train station disaster in which 16 people died. The concrete canopy of the newly renovated station in the northern city of Novi Sad collapsed on Nov. 1, 2024 in a disaster widely blamed on corruption and poor oversight. It sparked a wave of student-led protests and led to the resignation of then-Serbian prime minister Milos Vucevic and the fall of his government. The public prosecutor’s office in Novi Sad opened an investigation into the accident and deaths. In February, the public prosecutor’s office for organized crime opened another probe into
RISING RACISM: A Japanese group called on China to assure safety in the country, while the Chinese embassy in Tokyo urged action against a ‘surge in xenophobia’ A Japanese woman living in China was attacked and injured by a man in a subway station in Suzhou, China, Japanese media said, hours after two Chinese men were seriously injured in violence in Tokyo. The attacks on Thursday raised concern about xenophobic sentiment in China and Japan that have been blamed for assaults in both countries. It was the third attack involving Japanese living in China since last year. In the two previous cases in China, Chinese authorities have insisted they were isolated incidents. Japanese broadcaster NHK did not identify the woman injured in Suzhou by name, but, citing the Japanese
RESTRUCTURE: Myanmar’s military has ended emergency rule and announced plans for elections in December, but critics said the move aims to entrench junta control Myanmar’s military government announced on Thursday that it was ending the state of emergency declared after it seized power in 2021 and would restructure administrative bodies to prepare for the new election at the end of the year. However, the polls planned for an unspecified date in December face serious obstacles, including a civil war raging over most of the country and pledges by opponents of the military rule to derail the election because they believe it can be neither free nor fair. Under the restructuring, Myanmar’s junta chief Min Aung Hlaing is giving up two posts, but would stay at the
RSS