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BBC MUNDO RADIO
Declaring a new era of U.S.-Russia relations, leaders agree to reduce nuclear arsenals.
PRAGUE - President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Thursday signed an arms-control treaty designed to open a new era of harmony between the former superpower rivals while launching an arms agenda extending far into the future.
The two leaders met in the gilded majesty of a medieval castle in Prague, once a city at the epicenter of Cold War tension, and formally agreed to bring their nations' arsenals to their lowest levels in half a century.
The treaty marks the most important step yet in Obama's effort to "reset" relations with Russia, which he said have drifted after their low point of August 2008, when Russia invaded neighboring Georgia.
"Together, we have stopped the drift and proven the benefits of cooperation," Obama said. "When the United States and Russia are not able to work together on big issues, it is not good for either of our nations, nor is it good for the world."
Medvedev said the treaty would "open a new page" in Russian-American relations. "I believe this is a typical feature of our cooperation," the Russian president said. "Both parties have won."
But the signing of the pact also pointed to the challenges Obama confronts as he presses forward with ambitious plans to control the world's arms and address future international security threats.
Congress must approve
The New START treaty, named for the Strategic Arms Reduction treaties of the 1990s, resulted from eight months of contentious negotiation and represents the first in a series of steps Obama has planned with the goal of scaling back the world's reliance on nuclear arms.
