Both President Obama and his Russian counter-part, Dmitri Medvedev, have issued another joint declaration urging the negotiating teams from America and Russia to hurry up and reach agreement on an new nuclear arms treaty to replace the strategic arms reduction treaty (START) that expired in December.
A Kremlin source say’s “thats about the fifth time we have done that because this is going on forever and we need an agreement.”
A high level U.S. source familiar with the talks tells Fox News there are half a dozen working groups sitting in Geneva, working on this “day in day out, it’s a hectic meeting schedule.”
So why no deal to control the two largest nuclear arsenals on the planet?
The source says the problem in talks continue to center on the inspection regime, and every time there is a change in the the slightest detail, “it cascades down and raises a wave of new questions.” The inspection regime is key because that’s how the two sides verify what the other has.
Essentially both the Russians and Americans have already agreed to a reduction of warheads and delivery vehicles from the old agreement. While it has not been officially announced, sources tell Fox News respective nuclear stockpiles will fall 30-35 percent down to about 1,650 warheads each along with a significant reduction in launch vehicles, to about 500 each. (The U.S. relies on a triad of launch vehicles ranging from Submarines to Bombers to Missiles.)
But what changes in this new deal is critical. Under START, if one side had a missile capable of delivering 10 warheads, it was counted as ten. Now the new inspection regime will be incredibly intrusive, with Russians looking in to American nuclear silos and actually counting each warhead. The Americans will do the same in Russia.
And there’s been politics played at the negotiating table. Despite the fact the Russians agreed not to make this new agreement turn on concerns about America’s planned missile defense shield, a source says the Russians continue to raise the issue almost daily at the table in Geneva slowing down talks and making a final deal all the more difficult. The Russians say if the missile defense deal isn’t resolved final approval for a follow on agreement to START will be difficult in the Duma, the Russian Parliament.
And the Americans also use the same argument with their Russian counterparts saying the Senate and the House won’t easily pass a new deal either. There is still optimism a new nuclear arms control agreement is “just a matter of weeks away” says the source.
And those doing the heavy lifting in Geneva probably appreciated this recent kick in the pants from their Presidents to get it done soon.