U.S., Russia Face Tough Discussions On Weapons

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, left, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, right, brief the media after their meeting in Geneva, Switzerland, Friday, March 6, 2009. Clinton said Friday she hopes her first discussion with her Russian counterpart will begin a new era in U.S.-Russian relations without raising doubts about American support for European allies. (AP Photo/KEYSTONE, Martial Trezzini)

From The Washington Times:

How does one count some of the world's deadliest weapons? Should nuclear warheads be separated from the missiles that carry them? Should conventional warheads be subject to reduction targets?

Those questions - reminiscent of Cold War-era arms-control negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union - are back on the global agenda as Washington and Moscow try to "reset the button" of their relations.

"Arms control is the area where the United States and Russia have the longest history of cooperation, and it is the easiest place to renew the bilateral relationship," wrote Andrew Kuchins of the Center for Strategic and International Studies and Anders Aslund of the Peterson Institute for International Economics in a new book on U.S.-Russia ties.

Read more ....

My Comment: In the past decade, the Russians have invested heavily into maintaining their nuclear deterrent. The U.S. has gone down a separate path, delaying the modernization of its nuclear deterrent.

For any significant progress on nuclear missile reductions, the Russians are going to ask for a quid pro quo. This could be in missile defense and/or defining certain political arrangements on foreign policy issues. The U.S. with Iran and/or Afghanistan. The Russians with Georgia and/or the Ukraine.

Either way .... these discussions are going to be robust and difficult.