Day 3: The nuclear weapons states have issued a pragmatic joint document reflecting the constructive spirit of the negotiations at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference.
The statement was issued on Day 3 of the NPT Review Conference and presented during the general debate by Russia's chief arms negotiator Anatoly Antonov.
“I think the Americans have got an uphill struggle based on the speeches here today.”
BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh quoted in The Guardian, on the opening-day of the NPT Review Conference.
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/03/iran-ahmadinejad-us-nuclear-threats
On Day Two of the NPT Review Conference, delegates were unanimous in urging the entry into force as soon as possible of a global ban on nuclear tests.
Judging by the applause that greeted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the end of his speech to Day One of the NPT Review Conference, the next month will be hard going for the United States and the other Nuclear Weapons States.
“New international sanctions won’t be the ‘crippling’ ones sought by the West. There are likely to be plenty of sanctions-busting operations that reduce their impact.”
BASIC Executive Director Paul Ingram quoted by Reuters via the National Post (Canada).
Read more:
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=2817289
Keith Payne, a member of the US Strategic Posture Review Commission, has decried as folly the ongoing Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) follow-on negotiations between the United States and Russia.
In conjunction with the Obama-Medvedev Summit in Moscow today, the United States and Russia reached a Joint Understanding (White House press release) for establishing new limitations on the number of strategic nuclear warheads and delivery vehicles under the START Follow-on Treaty.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev's recent announcement that Russia will be upgrading its military forces in the face of Western encroachment (among other reasons) underscores the tenuousness of US-Russian relations. Despite enthusiasm shown by both sides for strengthening ties under President Obama, Washington and Moscow have very different, often conflicting, strategic interests.