DTN News: U.S., Russia Close In On Nuclear Treaty

DTN News: U.S., Russia Close In On Nuclear Treaty *Source: DTN News / WSJ By JONATHAN WEISMAN (NSI News Source Info) WASHINGTON - February 2, 2010: U.S. and Russian arms-control negotiators have reached an "agreement in principle" on the first nuclear arms reduction treaty in nearly two decades, administration and arms control officials said Tuesday. The deal would bring down deployed nuclear warheads and sharply limit the number of missiles and bombers that can deliver them. 'RESET' IN THE RELATIONSHIP? U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev talk during their meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama administration's lead negotiator, flew to Geneva Monday to help draft the final text and begin what could still be an arduous process of translating the agreement into treaty language, an administration official said. "There may be finessing and fine-tuning, but the issues, from our perspective, are all addressed," he added. The deal would bring the ceiling for deployed nuclear weapons from the 2,200 agreed to in 1991 down to between 1,500 and 1,675, but nuclear delivery systems would fall more sharply, to between 700 and 800 a side. The breakthrough in the talks came two weeks ago when National Security Adviser James Jones and Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went to Moscow to work through two issues on verification, the sharing of data on missile flight tests and inspections at missile production facilities. The deal was approved in principle last week during a phone conversation between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. Under the agreement, the Russians will share flight test data, something they had resisted as they develop more modern ballistic missiles. But monitoring of a key ballistic missile site in Russia, which ended in 2008, will not resume, according to officials familiar with the accord. The administration official cautioned that the final drafting could take a week to two months, depending on snags that could arise. When the U.S. and Russian presidents announced the arms control talks in April of last year, they set a deadline of Dec. 5 to complete them. That deadline slipped, and White House aides are hesitant to declare victory now. But Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, said the deal will clear the way for the broader Obama nuclear agenda. When the accord is formally unveiled, both sides are expected to announce "consultations" on more ambitious arms talks that would further bring down strategic nuclear forces and limit the deployment of smaller, battlefield nuclear weapons. In April, Mr. Obama will convene an international summit in Washington on controlling nuclear proliferation. The administration is also pushing for the ratification of an international nuclear test ban treaty, negotiated during the Clinton administration, ahead of a United Nations conference to review the fraying nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty later this year. Mr. Obama hopes the efforts made with Russia and on the test ban will strengthen his hand as he tries to further isolate the Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons programs. The nuclear deal comes as U.S. officials are increasingly optimistic that Russia is also getting behind a new economic sanctions package on Iran. The Obama administration has coordinated closely with Moscow on the issue and jointly presented a nuclear fuel-swap agreement to Tehran in October in a bid to reduce tensions. Iran's rejection of the deal, however, has angered Russia and pushed the Kremlin closer to the U.S. position, said American and Russian officials. Write to Jonathan Weisman at jonathan.weisman@wsj.com