On Thursday Russia stated that they would like to discuss a nuclear disarmament treaty with the United States, something that Obama has been trying to accomplish since his term began. The new treaty would be aimed at replacing or extending the current treaty between the US and Russia which is set to expire within the next month. The treaty that is set to expire is the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty or START. Russia stated, “we hope the constructive proposal that US National Security Adviser James Jones made in Moscow last week will let us bring our positions together and arrive at a balanced document.” From these comments we can gather that Russia is optimistically seeking to renew the treaty with new clauses and purposes.
The benefits of such a treaty with Russia are too many to count. Chief among these benefits is an agreement which will help to discourage any repeat of the Cold War. At the very least, the START treaty has been an integral deterrent for nuclear war or an arms race between the US and Russia. Arms races are expensive and scary so the avoidance of these is paramount.
Formerly the US and Russia tried to renew the START treaty with amendments while President Bush was still in command. However there was never any headway made because of the US plan for a missile shield which Russia opposed. However since the US has agreed to forgo the shield, Russia has become much more cooperative.
