President Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin have signed a new cooperative threat reduction umbrella agreement, the two leaders announced today.
According to a White House transcript of comments made after a bilateral meeting in Northern Ireland, Obama said:
And one of the concrete outcomes of this meeting is that we'll be signing here the continuation of the cooperation that was first established through the Nunn-Lugar program to counter potential threats of proliferation and to enhance nuclear security.
And this I think is an example of the kind of constructive, cooperative relationship that moves us out of a Cold War mindset into the realm where, by working together, we not only increase security and prosperity for the Russian and American people, but also help lead the world to a better place.
Last month, Inside the Pentagon reported that if the previous agreement, which expired today, was not amended or renewed, it could impact many of the Defense Department's joint threat reduction efforts, according to a March 22 "for-official-use-only" report signed by Madelyn Creedon, the assistant secretary of defense for global strategic affairs. ITP reviewed this report. Many of the joint threat reduction efforts cannot continue as planned without adequate legal coverage, Creedon wrote.
ITP further reported on the Creedon missive:
"Although Russia has increased its share of joint projects, significant gaps remain," Creedon states. "Recognizing that the gains from our strong cooperation to date are reversible, the United States seeks to continue cooperation and is in discussions with Russia regarding a framework to continue our successful joint efforts beyond June 2013."
"If, however, a new agreement with adequate legal protections is not concluded, the United States will determine which projects must cease operation and will shut them down in an orderly fashion," she continues.
The ITP story also had comments from various analysts on the issues that arose during negotiations:
Ken Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security, said negotiations on the new agreement focus on the fact that Russia wants to be more of a partner in the effort, instead of a recipient. However, he questioned "what that means in practical terms" because the Russians don't have similar programs to those of the United States. He also questioned whether Russia would spend the same amount of money as the United States, which he said came to more than $1 billion a year. "Partnership indicates some equality, not 'We don't want to be a [recipient], but by the same token we want you to spend all of the money,'" Luongo said.
Tom Collina, research director at the Arms Control Association, said another big issue being debated is liability. U.S. contractors do a lot of the work under the agreement, but if something goes awry, they would not be held liable, Collina said, noting Russia wanted to renegotiate that.
Luongo said there's not too much work left to do in Russia because a lot of projects have been completed and were related to the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.