Obama and Medvedev aim to slash nuclear stockpiles

On the fringes of the G20 summit, a potentially world-changing discussion took place between US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev in London yesterday - and it had nothing to do with global finance. The two powerful leaders, meeting at the US ambassador's residence in Regents Park, agreed to open discussions to reduce American and Russian nuclear arsenals by as much as a third.
 
Also discussed during the two men's first-ever meeting, which lasted 70 minutes and was conducted through interpreters, were ways in which America and Russia could work together in Afghanistan and combine influence to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

But it was a reduction in their own nuclear arsenals that formed the basis of the conversation and there is now real hope that both sides can reduce their stockpiles far beyond the numbers agreed by George Bush and Vladimir Putin under the Strategic Offensive Reductions Treaty of 2002.
 
"In just a few months we have worked hard to establish a new tone in our relations," the two leaders said in a joint statement after their meeting. "Now it is time to get down to business and translate our warm words into actual achievements of benefit to Russia, the United States and all those around the world interested in peace and prosperity."

Sceptics say the meeting must be taken in the context of Medvedev being only a temporary president – with Putin destined to return. Those with a more positive take include Micah Zenko, fellow in the Centre for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, who believes the agreement could represent a first step on the path to the total elimination of nuclear weapons worldwide. It was one of Obama's election campaign promises to work towards that end.
 
WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
 
Paul Reynolds, BBC World Affairs correspondent: The overtures about missile reduction look good but they are the low-hanging fruit on the tree of US-Russian relations. It's an easy issue to discuss because the simple truth is that neither country needs anywhere near the amount of nuclear warheads they currently have. Even if both sides end up with around 1,500 warheads, they have still got more than enough to destroy each other many times over.

Micah Zenko, the Guardian: If the US and Russia commit to cutting the total of operational and reserve nuclear warheads to 1,500 (the suggested figure), war planners will have to make tough decisions about how to deter the use of nuclear weapons by other nuclear states such as North Korea or China.
 
Helene Cooper, the New York Times: America and Russia have been on the brink of a new Cold War recently and though differences between the two superpowers still remain – particularly concerning the location of European missile defence shields – we should take heart from this first meeting between the two presidents.

The Mole, The First Post: On any other day this would have been front page news around the world. It may still turn out to be the most significant development at this gathering. ·