U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: This treaty will reduce the number of strategic nuclear weapons that both Russia and the United States are permitted to deploy by a third.
President Barack Obama: With this agreement, the United States and Russia – the two largest nuclear powers in the world – also send a clear signal that we intend to lead.
By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons.
US Secretary Hillary Clinton: This treaty represents a significant step forward in our cooperation with Russia.
US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen We recognize the trust and confidence this treaty helps foster in our relationship with Russia’s military:
a trust complimentary to that which the president has sought to achieve between our two countries.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: The journey we have taken from being one misstep away from mutual assured destruction to the substantial arms reductions of this new agreement is testimony to just how much the world has changed and all of the opportunities we still have to make our planet safer and more secure.
On Friday, March 26, US President Barack Obama announced that he and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had finalized the terms of a new nuclear arms treaty, in which both countries pledge to reduce their nuclear arsenals by approximately one-third while allowing full verification and monitoring on each side.
Speaking at the US White House, President Obama stated that this agreement brings the world closer to an ultimate goal of a world without such weapons.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added that the cooperative efforts resulting in this new treaty also represent a significant advancement in US-Russia diplomatic relations.
Your Excellencies, United States and Russia, we laud your work together that has resulted in this peaceful accord. May such noble leadership initiate similar actions the world over, to hasten our steps toward a globe of harmony among all.
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/03/26/start.treaty/index.html?hpt=T1 http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/europe/US-Russia-to-Sign-Nuclear-Arms-Reduction-Treaty-on-April-8--89271612.htmlhttp://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/usa/2010/usa-100326-voa02.htm