Editorial
Obama-Medvedev summit: One step on long road to nuclear-free world
The preliminary agreement reached Monday between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, whose countries account for more than 90 percent of the world's nuclear weapons, is a momentous step on the road to Obama's goal of a nuclear-free world.
However, if other states such as North Korea are not prevented from possessing nuclear arms, there is no chance of abolishing the weapons. The problem of North Korea's nuclear weapons should definitely be raised at the upcoming Group of Eight summit -- beginning Wednesday -- and we hope that Russia and the United States will cooperate on the issue.
At the April G20 summit in London, Obama and Medvedev agreed to "reset" the U.S.-Russia relationship after the diplomatically awkward years of the administration of President George W. Bush. During Obama's inaugural visit to Russia, the U.S. president was aiming to solidify cooperation between the U.S. and Russia on issues as diverse as nuclear disarmament, Afghanistan, Iran and North Korea.
Among all these issues, the agreement between the two presidents on the creation of a new nuclear disarmament framework in advance of the December expiration of the START 1 treaty was a major success. Specifically, Medvedev and Obama agreed to reduce each of their country's strategic nuclear arsenals to between 1,500 and 1,675 warheads -- down from the 1,700-2,200 agreed to in 2002 -- and we credit the two presidents for also pledging to reduce nuclear delivery systems to historical lows.
Obama called the discussions extremely fruitful, and declared the opening of a new chapter in U.S.-Russian relations.
That Obama also secured vital military supply routes through Russian territory for the ongoing war in Afghanistan is certainly a symbol of a new relationship between the U.S. and Russia. However, it cannot be denied that the U.S. plan to deploy missile defense systems in Eastern Europe remains a cause for concern over the true state of their bilateral relationship.
The U.S. should reconsider its missile defense plan, though it's certainly understandable that the U.S. would want the ability to defend its allies in Europe and the Middle East from possible missile attack from Iran, as Japan faces a similar threat from North Korea. However, unlike North Korea, there is no evidence that Iran has ever conducted a nuclear test, and there is little military tension between Europe and Iran.
Instead, shouldn't the U.S. and Russia cooperate in tackling the very real threat of North Korea, which has already performed two nuclear tests? Just before North Korea launched a long-range rocket in April, the leaders of Russia and the U.S. declared the test a threat to regional peace and stability. Still, North Korea went ahead with a nuclear test in May, and performed further missile tests as if it were timed to coincide with U.S. Independence Day.
That Obama criticized North Korea during a post-summit news conference with Medvedev was a matter of course. Russia and the U.S. cannot shut their eyes to North Korea's behavior. In line with the aims of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the U.S. and Russia should reduce nuclear weapons. Moreover, we hope that the two countries will step up efforts to denuclearize countries not permitted to possess nuclear arms. Therein lies the key to creating a nuclear-free world.
(Mainichi Japan) July 7, 2009