Russia, U.S. propose UN General Assembly resolution on arms cuts RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED October 18, 2010 Russia and the United States have submitted to the UN General Assembly a draft resolution on strategic arms reduction based on the new Russian-U.S. arms cuts treaty. The document was put forward at the General Assembly's current session on Friday. Russia's envoy to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin previously expressed hope for the consensus adoption of the resolution by the General Assembly. In order to come into force, the document has to be first supported by the General Assembly's committee responsible for arms reduction issues and then approved during a plenary session. A new strategic arms reduction treaty was signed by the Russian and U.S. presidents, Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama, on April 8 in Prague, replacing the START 1 treaty that expired in December 2009. The new pact, which is yet to be ratified by either state, obligates both nations to limit their fielded strategic nuclear weapons to 1,550 warheads, while the number of deployed and non-deployed delivery vehicles must not exceed 800 on either side. Churkin said the Russian-U.S. arms cuts treaty was a "real contribution of our countries to the strengthening of international security and strategic stability." "We expect that the important impetus for the nuclear disarmament process given by Moscow and Washington will be taken up by all states, primarily those possessing nuclear weapons," he said. The draft resolution submitted to the General Assembly includes a call for a total ban of nuclear tests. This will only become possible after a relevant agreement is ratified by all 44 countries which had nuclear reactors when the treaty was signed in 1996. The United States, China, Indonesia, Egypt, Iran and Israel have not ratified the deal, while India, Pakistan and North Korea have not signed it. Other news: Arctic expedition diary, blog one We're setting out tomorrow around 11 a.m. after a visit by Sergei Ivanov and possibly a news conference. China signed Framework Agreement with Belgium in MOX-fuel production GDF Suez subsidiary takes part in the deal. First fuel to be loaded into Bushehr NPP later this month "The entire load of fuel has been delivered to the rector repository," a spokeswoman told RIA Novosti. |
Hero of the day Obama nuclear summit: A minor success Further proof of this fact was provided by Obama Nuclear Security Summit held in Washington on April 12-13. However, this goal is unlikely to be achieved in four years. INTERVIEW
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