LONDON AND MOSCOW — President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Wednesday to open negotiations on a treaty that could slash their nuclear arsenals by a third, part of what they described as a step "to move beyond Cold War mentalities" in relations between Washington and Moscow.
The agreement to undertake significant arms control talks emerged from the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, and included a promise by Obama to visit the Russian capital this summer to pursue the talks.
"Over the last several years, the relationship between our two countries has been allowed to drift," Obama said. "What I believe we've begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest."
The overture toward Russia was in keeping with the accommodating tone Obama projected on the eve of a summit on the global economic crisis.
In London on Wednesday, the president downplayed differences with European leaders over clashing prescriptions for healing the world economy. And he reached out to China and Russia, powers with which the United States has had frequently prickly relations, saying he would visit both countries this year.
But it was the Russian question that Obama dealt with in depth. The renewed friction between the onetime Cold War foes developed over issues such as NATO expansion to countries once part of the Soviet Union, and soured further last summer when Russian troops fought a war with Georgia, a U.S. ally.
The consensus on the need for new nuclear arms talks was the most concrete expression yet of the Obama administration's decision to opt for improved ties with Moscow rather than greater confrontation.
In turn, Medvedev said he was prepared to cooperate on nonproliferation, among other issues.
"It is important to note that there are many points on which we can work," he said. "And indeed there are far more points where we can come closer, where we can work, rather than those points on which we have differences."
For Russia, the push for a new nuclear treaty has as much to do with diplomatic clout as with strategic necessity, said Nikolai Zlobin, director of the Russia program at the Center for Defense Information in Washington.
"This is an area where Russia and the United States together can force the rest of the world to accept their view," he said. "It makes Russia a global power again. Russia feels like it's back to old times."
