Gottemoeller: No History of Russian Cheating on Central Obligations of START

Today's top nuclear policy stories, with excerpts in bullet form.

Stories we're following today, Thursday, July 29, 2010:

State Department: Russia Was Not Cheating on START - Josh Rogin in Foreign Policy's The Cable [link]

• The State Department does not believe that Russia has been cheating on its obligations under START I, the now-defunct 1991 nuclear reductions treaty, and is confident that Russia will abide by the new treaty when it is ratified, according to the treaty's top negotiator.
• State's lead negotiator for New START, Assistant Secretary of State for Verification, Compliance, and Implementation Rose Gottemoeller, said that nothing in the report accuses Russia of cheating or undermines the Obama administration's confidence that the new treaty can be enforced.
• "Cheating implies intent to undermine a treaty. There's no history of cheating on the central obligations of START; there's a history of abiding by the treaty," Gottemoeller said.  "Generally the record for the major conventions is a good one. With regard to START, the Russians have been very serious and it has been a success."
• A State Department official, speaking on background, noted the irony of GOP senators worrying about compliance and verification while stalling on ratification of the new treaty. Since the old START agreement expired last December, all U.S. personnel working to monitor Russian nuclear stockpiles have been removed and until the new treaty is ratified, there isn't any verification at all.  "We need a treaty to comply with," the official said. "Until the new treaty enters into force, we don't know what they are doing."

START Vote Next Week Uncertain - Laura Rozen in Politico [link]

• The Senate Foreign Relations Committee has added a Wednesday Aug. 4 business meeting to next week’s schedule to consider the START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia.
• The administration is still hoping for a committee vote on the treaty next week before the Senate breaks for August recess. But some on the committee are skeptical that everything can come together by then.
• “Senator Kerry is working with his colleagues and the administration to hear views and address questions raised by senators about the New START treaty and related issues as quickly as possible,” committee spokesman Frederick Jones told POLITICO's Jen DiMascio.

Arms Treaty Vote Hinges on Work at Weapons Sites - The Oak Ridger [link]

• U.S. Sen. Bob Corker on Monday said his vote on a new arms control treaty with Russia will hinge on the level of commitment that President Barack Obama's administration shows toward modernization work under way at the Y-12 National Security Complex and other nuclear weapons facilities.
• Corker is assessing U.S. nuclear weapons modernization plans as the Senate considers a new U.S.-Russia Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START.
• "If you're going to be reducing warheads, let's make sure they're reliable," the U.S. senator said after a United Way campaign kickoff ceremony was held at Y-12 on Monday.
• A press release said the senator "has raised concerns about a lack of clarity regarding the Obama administration's budgetary commitment to modernization of U.S. nuclear stockpiles, which could impact the Uranium Processing Facility at Y-12."
• That facility could cost between $1.4 billion and $3.5 billion and it would be used for work related to nuclear weapons, naval reactors, global threat reduction, and armament disassembly and dismantlement.

Iran Offers to Resume Nuclear Talks, Rein In Enrichment - Wall Street Journal [link]

• Iran has said it could suspend a part of its uranium-enrichment program and is ready to resume nuclear talks with the major powers without setting conditions, in what Western officials said Wednesday were signs that Tehran has been taken aback by the scale of international sanctions launched against it.
• U.S. and European diplomats welcomed Iran's offers, though with skepticism, given the tortuous history of Iran's negotiations during a seven-year international tug of war over the country's nuclear ambitions. 
• "We've been getting more messages than usual that they'd like to get involved in talks," said the European official in Iran."For the Iranians to be serious, they'd need to agree to stop enriching to 20% and display a willingness to discuss their nuclear program in its entirety."