NEWSLINK: Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact

[Obama urges Russia to work with U.S. to extend arms pact – Reuters – Dec. 3, 2012 – http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-usa-russia-weapons-idUSBRE8B301220121204]

Reuters reports on U.S. efforts to persuade Russia to continue Nunn-Lugar WMD dismantling and conversion:

President Barack Obama urged Russia on Tuesday to work with the United States to “update” a decades-old agreement on dismantling nuclear and chemicals weapons that is set to expire in mid-2013.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in October that Moscow intended to end the 1992 agreement, the latest sign that the much-vaunted “reset” in relations between the Cold War-era foes may be running out of steam.

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The project has been extended twice, most recently in 2006. U.S. officials say it has helped to deactivate more than 7,650 strategic warheads, neutralized an unspecified number of chemical weapons, safeguarded fissile materials and mitigated biological threats.

Russia has expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement, but both sides are still in discussions.  The current agreement ends next summer:

Ryabkov was quoted by Russia’s Interfax news agency on October 10 as saying that “the agreement doesn’t satisfy us, especially considering new realities.” The State Department said at the time that Washington and Moscow were still talking about the pact, which expires in June 2013.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry had suggested that cooperation could continue but under different rules.

Click here for full article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/12/04/us-usa-russia-weapons-idUSBRE8B301220121204