미-러정상회담 "북한 로켓 발사 자제 촉구.한반도 비핵화 위해 협력하기로"

 

 

미국과 러시아는 12월 시효가 만료하는 전략무기감축 협정(START-1)을 대신할 새로운 핵무기 감축 협상을 재개하기로 1일 합의했다.

버락 오바마 대통령은 드미트리 메드베데프 대통령은 런던 주요 20개국(G20) 금융정상회의를 하루 앞둔 이날 영국주재 미국 대사관저에서 취임 후 첫 정상회담을 열어 핵무기 감축 협상 재개를 포함한 공동 성명을 발표했다.

   성명에 따르면 양국은 1994년 발효된 START-1을 대체할 전략무기 제한 및 감축에 관한 포괄적이며 합법적인 협정을 만들기 위해 정부 간 협상을 시작하기로 했다.또 양국은 즉각 실무 차원의 협상에 착수, 오는 7월까지 그 결과를 보고하고 오는 12월5일 협정 만료 전까지 새로운 협정을 내 놓기로 했다. 미국과 러시아는 옛 소련의 붕괴 전인 1991년 핵탄두 보유 한도를 6천 개로 제한하는 START를 체결했었다.

 이후 조지 부시 전 미 대통령과 블라디미르 푸틴 전 러시아 대통령은 지난 2002년 양국의 핵탄두 보유 한도를 각 2천200개로 줄이기로 했다. 특히 부시 정권에서 미국은 이란의 핵위협에 대처한다는 명분으로 동유럽에 미사일방어(MD) 체제 구축을 추진했고 러시아는 이의 포기나 명시적 규제를 핵 감축협상과 연계하려는 태도를 보이면서 그동안 이를 대체할 협정 체결을 위한 협상이 진전을 보지 못했다.

   그러나 오바마 대통령이 취임사에서 군축에 대한 의지를 밝히고 MD 문제에 대해서도 긍정적 자세를 보이면서 협상 재개를 위한 분위기가 조성됐다.  이날 성명에는 구체적으로 감축 핵무기 숫자가 명시되시는 않았지만 1천500개까지 줄이는 것을 목표로 협상을 진행할 것으로 알려졌다.
 또 두 정상은 `핵무기 없는 세계'라는 장기 목표하에 한반도의 검증 가능한 비핵화를 위해 긴밀히 협력하기로 했다.

   특히 양국 정상은 성명에서 북한의 로켓 발사에 대해 우려를 표시하면서 발사 자제를 촉구했다. 두 정상은 북한 탄도 미사일 발사가 역내 평화와 안보에 악영향을 것이라면서 우리는 북한이 발사를 자제하고 유엔 안전보장이사회의 결의안을 지키기를 촉구한다고 밝혔다.
북한은 오는 4~8일 사이 통신위성을 탑재한 로켓을 발사하겠다고 예고한 상태이지만 미국, 일본, 우리 정부는 이번 로켓 발사가 장거리 탄도 미사일인 대포동 2호를 쏘아 올리려는 것으로 보고 있다.
이와 함께 양국은 MD 계획에 대해서는 여전히 이견이 있음을 확인하면서도 이를 해결하기 위한 국제적인 협력 방안을 논의하기로 약속했다.

   오바마 대통령은 회담 후 "오늘 우리는 양국 관계에 새로운 진전이 시작됐음을 확인했다"고 말했고, 메드베데프 대통령도 "우리가 서로 적(敵)으로 보던 시대는 오래전에 끝났으며 앞으로 양국 관계 발전을 낙관한다"고 밝혔다.

   양국 관계는 미국의 MD 계획, 나토(북대서양조약기구) 확대, 그루지야 전쟁, 이란 핵 프로그램 등으로 냉전 이후 최악의 관계를 보였으나 오바마 행정부 출범 이후 화해 분위기가 급속도로 조성됐다.

   한편 이날 오바마 대통령은 오는 7월 모스크바를 방문해 달라는 메드베데프 대통령의 초청을 수락했다고 이타르 타스 통신 등이 보도했다.

 

Today President Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, where they discussed their intention to draft a new arms control treaty to replace the START agreement, and broad parameters of US-Russia relations in general. This morning Prime Minister Gordon Brown told President Obama, "Your first 70 days in office have changed America, and you've changed America's relationship with the world" – both President Obama and President Medvedev’s words standing together after the meeting gave hope that the Prime Minister’s words were true:

 

President Obama:

 

As I've said in the past, I think that over the last several years the relationship between our two countries has been allowed to drift. And what I believe we've begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest, like the reduction of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of our nonproliferation treaties; our mutual interest in dealing with terrorism and extremism that threatens both countries; our mutual interest in economic stability and restoring growth around the world; our mutual interest in promoting peace and stability in areas like the Middle East.

 

So I am very encouraged by the leadership of the President. I'm very grateful that he has taken the time to visit. I am especially excited about the fact that the President extended an invitation for me to visit Moscow to build on some of the areas that we discussed on today. And I have agreed to visit Moscow in July, which we both agreed was a better time than January to visit.

 

President Medvedev (as translated):

 

It is important to note that there are many points on which we can work. And indeed there are far more points in which we can -- where we can come closer, where we can work, rather than those points on which we have differences. Thus, by bringing our positions closer we can attain significant progress and, much more importantly, further our achievements.

 

I share the view of President Obama who said that our teams have worked really well in preparation of this meeting, and the declarations, the two declarations, which we are adopting are just another proof of that. And those are a declaration on the strategic weapons, and the declaration on the general framework of relations between Russia and the United States, which set good grounds for our further interaction.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/09/04/01/Reset-with-Russia/

 

LONDON. Dmitry Medvedev had a meeting with President of the United States Barack Obama.

The Russian delegation at the talks included Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov, Presidential Aide Sergei Prikhodko, First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov and Minister of Finance Alexei Kudrin. The U.S. delegation included Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, National Security Advisor James Jones, and Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Mr Medvedev and Mr Obama adopted two joint documents on developing Russian-U.S. relations and further talks on strategic offensive arms reductions. They also made statements for media.

 

Press Statements following Meeting with President of the United States Barack Obama 

PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BARACK OBAMA: Let me just make a brief comment. I am very grateful to President Medvedev for taking the time to visit with me today. I am particularly gratified because prior to the meeting, our respective teams have worked together, and have developed a series of approaches to areas of common interest that I think present great promise. As I've said in the past, I think that over the last several years the relationship between our two countries has been allowed to drift. And what I believe we've begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest, like the reduction of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of our nonproliferation treaties; our mutual interest in dealing with terrorism and extremism that threatens both countries; our mutual interest in economic stability and restoring growth around the world; our mutual interest in promoting peace and stability in areas like the Middle East.

So I am very encouraged by the leadership of the President. I'm very grateful that he has taken the time to visit. I am especially excited about the fact that the President extended an invitation for me to visit Moscow to build on some of the areas that we discussed on today. And I have agreed to visit Moscow in July, which we both agreed was a better time than January to visit.

And my hope is that given the constructive conversations that we've had today, the joint statements that we will be issuing both on reductions of nuclear arsenals, as well as a range of other areas of interest, that what we're seeing today is the beginning of new progress in the U.S.-Russian relations. And I think that President Medvedev's leadership is – has been critical in allowing that progress to take place.

So thank you very much.

PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA DMITRY MEDVEDEV: I would like to thank President Obama most sincerely for this chance to meet, get to know each other, share our views on the current situation in the world, talk about the values that unite us, and discuss how we see the future of Russian-American relations.

I cannot but agree that over these last years, unfortunately, our relations have encountered difficulties and, as the U.S. President just said, they were drifting in the wrong direction. Our relations were worsening, and this was not in the interests of the United States of America, nor the Russian Federation, nor indeed of the planet as a whole.

We have agreed to try to reset our relations and open a new page in our ties. This is important given our joint responsibility for the processes taking place.

Today, we discussed practically all of the issues of concern to our countries: non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, strategic offensive arms reductions, counter-terrorism issues, and the question of building a more stable global economic order, and this demonstrates just how important it is for us to talk, and just how important are the decisions we reach.

This is only the start of our discussions, but I think that today’s meeting has already shown that there are far more issues that unite us than issues that take us in different directions.

I agree with President Obama that our teams have done some good work. The two declarations that we adopted today show progress in the areas we have been talking about. The declaration on strategic offensive weapons and the declaration on the general framework for Russian-U.S. relations reflect our current positions, and it is important that they have been approved.

I will be very pleased to see the U.S. President and his team in Russia this July. July is the warmest month, and I hope that this warmth will extend to the talks that we will have. We have agreed on a number of specific matters that we could work on in preparation for this meeting, and I hope that we will not lose time now and will indeed get this work underway as was discussed today.

We will continue our contacts, all the more so as we discussed today not just important international issues but also bilateral matters. We even talked a bit about legal education, not perhaps everyone’s favourite subject, but it can actually make a very useful contribution to developing our bilateral relations, for it turns out that in our time we studied the same books.

I have an optimistic view of the future of Russian-U.S. relations after this meeting. I would like to thank once again my colleague, President Obama.

http://www.president.kremlin.ru/eng/speeches/2009/04/01/2023_type82914_214607.shtml 

 

 

President Barack Obama concludes a Bilateral Meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia at Winfield House APril 1, 2009, in London. Official White House Photo by Pete Souza