PUTIN OUTLINES OBSTACLES TO NEW ARMS CONTROL TALKS

The comments aren’t likely to spark any new negotiations (for now), but Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday signaled that Moscow would be open to further nuclear reduction talks beyond the 1,550-warhead ceiling established by the New START Treaty—as long as those talks involve U.S. missile defenses and other thorny issues. However, given the looming Presidential election in November, Putin’s comments—made in a letter Friday to the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War and first reported by the New York Times—are unlikely to lead to any movement on follow-on negotiations to New START. And his comments illustrate the obstacles to any future negotiations. “Protecting humanity from the threat generated by weapons of mass destruction is rightly considered one of the key issues on the global agenda,” Putin wrote. “Russia is open to new joint initiatives in this sphere.” He added: “Their realization is clearly possible only on a fair and mutual basis and if all factors affecting international security and strategic stability are taken into account. Among these factors we include the USA’s unilateral and unlimited deployment of a global missile defense system, the threat of weapons being deployed in space, and the presence of quantitative and qualitative imbalances in conventional weapons in Europe.”