Obama to Tell Medvedev of Determination for Nuclear Treaty Ratification

A senior U.S. official says President Barack Obama will underscore to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in their bilateral meeting scheduled for Sunday in Japan, his determination to achieve U.S Senate ratification of the new START treaty for nuclear arms reduction.

President Obama is scheduled to meet with his Russian counterpart Sunday morning on the sidelines of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation - APEC - summit in Yokohama.

Mr. Obama and President Medvedev signed the treaty last April, but it has been in a state of uncertainty pending U.S. Senate ratification, with key Republican senators insisting on new funding to modernize the U.S. nuclear infrastructure.

At the APEC summit, the president's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, was asked about media reports that the administration has now offered to spend $4 billion over the next five years to upgrade the aging U.S. nuclear infrastructure.

A report in The Washington Post said administration officials communicated the plan to members of Congress on Friday. The additional spending would be on top of a $10 billion increase already pledged over the next decade.

Saying he had not seen the news reports, Mr. Donilon said the administration has made clear that achieving Senate ratification is a priority.

He said, "We have laid out in our nuclear posture review, published by this administration last year, and in our budget submissions, our commitment to really addressing what had been a real shortfall in funding for maintaining and enhancing the nation's nuclear infrastructure. So this has been a priority for the administration from early on, it is expressly addressed in our nuclear posture review and in our budget submissions."

The new START treaty would bring about a 30 percent reduction in the number of long-range nuclear weapons deployed by the United States and Russia, and would enable each side to check on the other's stockpiles.

Asked if President Obama would be able to tell President Medvedev when they meet on the sidelines of the APEC summit that the president will definitely achieve ratification, Donilon said, "Well, he will indicate to President Medvedev what I just said, which is that the administration will be pursuing this as a priority in the lame duck session [of Congress] absolutely."

In comments in Seoul, South Korea, where G20 leaders just held their summit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow hopes the U.S. Senate ratifies the new START agreement by the end of this year, adding he hopes it will not be blocked by domestic U.S. politics.

The meeting with President Medvedev is the first item on President Obama's schedule Sunday morning as APEC leaders hold final discussions at the economic cooperation summit in Yokohama.