Obama arrives in Moscow for nuclear talks

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Obama arrives in Moscow for nuclear talks

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06 July,2009 10:16 pm

US President Barack Obama on Monday arrived in Russia for a summit aimed at agreeing a roadmap to nuclear arms cuts and reviving a relationship troubled by a string of crises. A joint declaration on replacing a key disarmament treaty is expected to be a centrepiece of Obama's two-day visit, along with a deal allowing US military supplies destined for Afghanistan to transit across Russia. Making his first visit to Russia as president, Obama will lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before meeting President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin. Both sides have repeatedly used the slogan of pressing the reset button to lift a relationship that sunk to a post-Cold War low under the presidency of George W. Bush amid a series of rows capped by Russia's war with Georgia. But Obama's visit, which will also include meetings with opposition figures and a keynote speech to an economics university, is not expected to be completely smooth. Officials have stressed the two sides are still some distance from a new treaty and that the declaration will set guidelines for negotiators to complete their work by the end of the year and, possibly, numerical targets for cuts. There certainly won't be an agreement on the end deal... but I think you will see an announcement that indicates some progress toward reaching that objective, White House arms control specialist Gary Samore said Sunday. The US president showed he was unafraid of blunt talking on Russia when he said in a pre-visit interview that Medvedev's predecessor, strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin still had one foot in the past. The remark set off speculation in the Russian press Obama was seeking to strengthen the youthful Medvedev over Putin. Obama is due to meet Putin for breakfast on Tuesday. Obama also gave an interview to the Novaya Gazeta newspaper, a publication that has been a constant thorn in the Kremlin's side and was the employer of the murdered Putin critic Anna Politkovskaya. Obama will be hoping for a smoother reception than on a 2005 visit to Russia when a coordination mix-up resulted in the then-senator and his colleague Richard Lugar being detained for three hours at the airport in the Urals city of Perm.