Russia says President Dmitri Medvedev and U.S. President Barack Obama
will sign a declaration on reducing nuclear arms when the two leaders
meet at the G20 summit next week.
The Kremlin also said Saturday that the two presidents will issue a general statement on U.S.-Russia relations.
Presidents Medvedev and Obama will meet for the first time April 1 in London on the sidelines of the G20 summit.
Sergei
Prikhodko, an aide to Mr. Medvedev says Mr. Obama and the Russian
president will issue a joint statement on a new strategic arms
agreement to replace the 1991 START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty),
which expires in December.
Obama administration officials have
indicated they want to "press the reset button" on U.S.-Russian
relations. There was little progress on renewing the START agreement
under President George W. Bush. Russia opposes the U.S. plan to
station a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, and relations
become further strained after Russia's war with Georgia last year.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.
