Medvedev 'Counting On a Reset' With U.S.
Russia Again Raises Missile Shield Issue
By Philip P. Pan
Washington Post Foreign Service
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday he was “counting on” the new U.S. administration to live up to its pledge to “reset” relations between the two countries, while a senior Russian diplomat sought to link the fate of a key nuclear arms control treaty to American concessions on missile defense. …
In a separate news conference, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said he expected Medvedev and Obama to emerge from the meeting with a “concrete and clear” signal on the future of the relationship, and agreement on the “parameters” of a pact to replace START, the landmark arms control treaty scheduled to expire in December.
But Ryabkov said negotiations on new limits on nuclear warheads and weapons must be linked to the future of U.S. plans to build a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe that Russia has repeatedly condemned …
