White House predicts progress in Moscow over arms question (Roundup)

Moscow - The US White House on Sunday expected progress to be made in bilateral talks with Russia over strategic arms, said Gary Samore, advisor to US President Barack Obama on questions of weapons of mass destruction. Speaking in Moscow ahead of Obama's visit on Monday, Samore added however that there would be a long way to go to arrive at a successor agreement to the so-called START treaty on strategic nuclear weapons, which expires in December. There were a number of problems to solve, Samore said, giving as an example the counting of warheads and missiles as well as the verifiability of disarmament steps. US plans for the missile defence system in the Czech Republic and Poland would have no effect on the disarmament talks, he said. Earlier Sunday, Medvedev struck a conciliatory tone on the US eastern European missile defence, saying the US need not back down completely on the proposed system. In an interview reported by the state Itar-Tass news agency, Medvedev said 'we are against the deployment of elements of an anti- missile defence system in Poland and the Czech Republic ... (but) in order to resolve this issue we do not necessarily have to cancel out all the previous decisions that have been made.' The missile shield plan was initiated by the previous Bush administration to fend off Iran's growing missile capability. Moscow has strongly opposed the idea, threatening to target Poland and the Czech Republic if they host the bases. The plan is currently under review by the Obama administration. 'The previous administration ... took a very hard-headed position on this issue, the current administration is ready to discuss this topic,' Medvedev said. The US and Russia at the meeting are expected to work towards a replacement deal for the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, which expires December 5. Medvedev added Sunday that 'it is enough to show restraint, to show an ability to compromise. And then we can agree on the basic foundations of a new START treaty, and agree at the same time on how we will approach missile defence.'