Finally! After the all unnecessary political fighting by Republicans to stop a treaty that even their ‘God-send-measuring stick’ President Reagan supported, America and Russia today put into effect the START treaty.
Below is a report from The New York Times:
MUNICH — The United States and Russia on Saturday formally put into force New Start, a strategic arms control treaty passed by the Senate in December after a long political battle by President Obama.
On the sidebar of a high-level security conference here, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, exchanged legal documents ratifying the treaty, which puts new limits on strategic nuclear warheads, heavy bombers and launching vehicles. The United States and Russia have 45 days to trade details on the number, location and technical specifications of their arsenals. Inspection can begin in 60 days.
The chilly relationship between the United States and Russia began to thaw a bit after a meeting in 2009 when Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. called for the countries to “reset” their relationship after the chilly Bush years.
In addition to the ratification of New Start on Saturday, the so-called quartet — a group that deals with the Middle East consisting of the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations — convened. This meeting was intended to reaffirm support for the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, even amid the turmoil in Egypt and the Arab world.
Read the Times article here
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Related articles
- US and Russia Activate Arms Treaty – New York Times (news.google.com)
- US-Russia nuclear arms treaty finalized (msnbc.msn.com)
- Nuclear Arms Treaty Being Finalized in Munich (abcnews.go.com)
