Obama and Medvedev to Meet

On April 8^th, President Obama and Russian President Medvedev will meet in Prague to sign the START treaty.  “This meeting symbolizes the process of new relations between Russia and the United States and is considered a huge international event and a major contribution to the process of disarmament,” said Vladimir Fedorov, spokesman for the Russian Embassy in Prague.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will meet in Prague April 8 to sign a historic treaty pledging to cut the nuclear stockpiles of the world’s two leading atomic states, though U.S. plans for a missile-defense system in Europe remain a sore point between the two countries.

Pentagon Denies Test-Firing Missile

Trident Missile

Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Withington, a United States Defense Department spokesman denied that the U.S. joined forces with Saudi Arabia to test fire a submarine-launched ballistic missile.  This denial comes after a western military official in Saudi Arabia said a Trident missile was launched there.

The US government has denied test-firing a submarine-launched ballistic missile capable of carrying nuclear warheads during a joint military exercise with Saudi Arabia.

A Western military official in Saudi Arabia said a Trident missile was launched out in the kingdom.

The Case for Western Missile Defense

This article, written by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, discusses with the significance of the upcoming signing of the START treaty by Russia and the United States and how nuclear weapons are now becoming more of a threat. It also talks about Iran becoming an increasing threat and the significance of having missile defense in order to protect the world we live in.

Next week in Prague, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev and US president Barack Obama will sign a new strategic arms reduction treaty (Start). That agreement is an historic achievement, and an inspiration for further progress in global arms control. But at the same time, here and now, we must also prepare to defend against another, less encouraging trend.

Washington Summit to Focus on Vulnerability of Nuclear Materials

On April 12-13, 2010,  a nuclear security summit gathering including over 40 heads of state will be held in Washington, D.C.  The main focus of this summit will be to discuss nuclear materials. “Nuclear security summit is focusing on a very narrow slice of the problem which is vulnerability of nuclear material and securing them against the threat of terrorists’ acquisition.”

The nuclear security summit to be held in Washington in mid-April will focus mainly on the vulnerability of nuclear materials, the U.S. presidential representative on non-proliferation matters said.

The summit, to gather over 40 heads of state, including Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, will be held in the U.S. capital on April 12-13. The official program of the summit is yet to be released.

China Agrees to Consider Steps on Iran

China is taking steps toward entering into negotiations in order to tighten pressure on Iran through sanctions.  This comes after months of resisting the idea from the United Nations.   Specifically, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday that all the permanent members of the Security Council, which includes China and Russia, were now “unified” on the issue and that “a great deal of further consultation” would occur in the coming weeks.

After months of resisting the idea of new Security Council sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, the Chinese government appears to have taken a step closer to supporting them, agreeing to enter negotiations over the language of a new resolution to intensify international pressure on Iran.

“They have agreed to start,” said Bernard Kouchner, the French foreign minister, in an interview here. “Talking about the substance is a new step forward.”