Obama had hoped to sign a new treaty beforObama had hoped to sign a new treaty beforBy Steven Thomma WASHINGTON -- The United States
and Russia are close to signing an agreement
to slash their arsenals of nuclear weapons, o
fficials said Wednesday, March 24, setting th
e stage for the two former Cold War rivals to
sign a trea ty in Prague shortly after Easter
. "We're very close to getting an agreement,
" White House press secretary Robert Gibbs sa
id. He said the two countries can't finalize
the deal until President Barack Obam a speaks
personally with Russian President Dmitry Med
vedev but added that they're likely to talk w
ithin a few days. "The president, I think, h
opes to speak to the Russian leader in the ne
xt several days, but there's still some thing
s that need to be worked out," Gibbs said. "
The two presidents will talk soon to finalize
the language, but terms have been agreed to,
and both sides are expecting a signing in Pr
ague in early April," said a person close to
the negotiations who spoke on condition of an
onymity because he wasn't authorized to speak
publicly. Officials in the Czech R epublic s
aid Wednesday, March 24, that the two leaders
are expected to sign the START II treaty in
Prague sometime after Easter, or April 4. Tha
t would be almost exactly a year after Obama
delivered a major speech there spelling out h
is hopes for a nuclear-free world. It also w
ould allow Obama to use the signed treaty as
a springboard to an international summit in W >ashington on April 12 on stopping the spread
of nuclear weapons. The proposed treaty is i
ntended to replace and build on the Strategic
Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, which expired
De c. 5. The new pact is expected to limit de
ployed U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to b
etween 1,500 and less than 1,700 warheads eac
h, a reduction from a limit of 2,200 due to t
ake effect Dec. 31, 2012. Obama had hoped to
sign a new treaty before the old one expired
, but the two sides wrangled over a Russian d
emand for the right to withdraw unilaterally
from the treaty if it felt its int ercontinent
al missiles were threatened by a U.S. missile
defense system the Obama administration has
planned for Romania. The resolution of that i
ssue isn't yet known. Sen. John Kerry, Democ
rat of Massachusetts, the chairman of the Sen
ate Foreign Relations Committee, said Wednesd
ay, March 24, after meeting with Obama that h
is panel would begin hearings on the proposedair jordans shoes br> treaty soon after Easter. "A well-designed
treaty will send an important message to the
rest of the world that America is prepared to
lead efforts with key stakeholders to reduce
the threat of nuclear weapons," he said. It
will take 67 votes in the Senate to ratify t
he pact: The Constitution requires two-thirds
of senators present to approve a treaty. "I
t depends on the treaty," said Andy Fisher, a
spokesman for Sen. Richard Lugar, Republican
of Indiana, the top Republican on the commit
tee, who also met with Obama. Sponsored Link
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