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Prague has agreed to host disarmament treaty signing

Other News Materials 24 March 2010 14:25 (UTC +04:00)
The Czech Republic agreed to host the signing of the new Russian-US treaty on nuclear arms reduction once the talks are completed, the Czech Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
Prague has agreed to host disarmament treaty signing

The Czech Republic agreed to host the signing of the new Russian-US treaty on nuclear arms reduction once the talks are completed, the Czech Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

"We were asked whether we'd agree with hosting the meeting in Prague when the negotiations will be finished. We have consulted it as allies with the US, and we agreed," ministry spokesman Filip Kanda said in a statement, DPA reported.

Russia and the United States reportedly hope to finalize the deal before the upcoming nuclear summit in Washington, scheduled to start on April 12.

According to media reports citing unnamed sources the signing ceremony between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his US counterpart Barack Obama could take place in early April. Medvedev is scheduled to visit Slovakia on April 6-7.

The Prague signing would thus take place about a year after Obama urged the world to get rid of nuclear weapons in a Prague speech.

The new disarmament treaty, which is being negotiated in Geneva, is to replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) that expired in December.

In July 2009, the Russian and US presidents agreed that the new treaty would aim to reduce nuclear stockpiles from 2,200 warheads to a range of 1,500 to 1,675 warheads.

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