PRAGUE – Reaching anew for peace, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday signed a treaty to shrink their nations' nuclear arsenals, the biggest such pact between the former Cold War foes in a generation. Tenaciously negotiated by even the leaders themselves, the treaty commits their nations to slash the number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third and more than halve the number of missiles, submarines and bombers carrying them. In a lavish chamber within the Czech capital's presidential castle complex, the two presidents put their names to history. The treaty must be now be ratified by Russia's Parliament and by the US Senate, where the White House lobbying effort is under way. "Today is an important milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation, and for US-Russia relations," Obama said, according to Reuters. Medvedev hailed the signing as a historic event that would launch a new chapter of co-operation between the countries. The US President said both countries were working together to pass strong sanctions on Iran. "Together, we have stopped that drift," Obama said. "We are working together at the United Nations Security Council to pass strong sanctions on Iran and we will not tolerate actions that flout the NPT," he said, referring to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Medvedev said a newly signed arms treaty with the US can only be viable if there's no increase in anti-ballistic missile capabilities. But Medvedev says he's satisfied with the treaty signed in Prague yesterday with President Barack Obama. ''The result we have obtained is good,'' Medvedev said after the two leaders signed the treaty committing their nations to slashing the number of strategic nuclear warheads by one-third. The new treaty will shrink the limit of nuclear warheads to 1,550 per country over seven years. That still allows for mutual destruction several times over. But it is intended to send a strong signal that Russia and the US, which between them own more than 90 per cent of the world's nuclear weapons, are serious about disarmament.
