Obama, Medvedev praise efforts to control nuclear weapons

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As the United States and Russia resume talks on nuclear arms controls, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday offered their support to groups working to eliminate nuclear weapons.

More than 200 military and political leaders and experts from around the world are meeting in Paris as part of the Global Zero conference where recommendations will be made on how to further eliminate the threats from the proliferation of nuclear arms.

Neither president is attending the conference, though both have sent representatives. Both also sent messages praising the effort and calling nuclear issues a priority.

“As president, this is one of my highest priorities,” said Obama, who won a Nobel Peace prize partly for his speeches opposing nuclear proliferation. The White House is also planning a nuclear summit in April.
“Make no mistake, this will be hard. Progress will be neither quick nor easy. Rather than fixed deadlines, we will work toward reductions that are historic yet realistic, ambitious yet achievable. And as I’ve said, our ultimate goal may not be realized in our lifetimes,” Obama said in his message.

Medvedev echoed that concern.

“Today our common task consists in undertaking everything to make deadly weapons of mass destruction to become a thing of the past,” he said in his message to the conference. “I am confident that a productive dialogue and joint efforts of global community will help to achieve the major goal -- to ensure a safe and sustainable future for our common planet.”

The countries had hoped to complete negotiations on the next treaty to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which expired in December. But talks have bogged down on the details on technical questions such as the number of nuclear warheads and carrier systems each side could have. Talks resumed this week in Geneva.
-- Michael Muskal

Twitter.com/LATimesmuskal