OREANDA-NEWS. October 15, 2009. The first meeting of the Working Group on Arms Control and International Security was held in Moscow on October 12 as part of the Russian-American Presidential Commission established after the bilateral summit in Moscow in July this year. The co-chairs of the group are Sergey A. Ryabkov, Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Ellen Tauscher, US Under Secretary of State.

Missile defense issues were substantively discussed, with both sides expressing the readiness to establish cooperation in this sphere based on the Joint Declaration of the Russian and US Presidents of July 6, 2009.

Progress in preparing a new agreement to replace the START Treaty was examined. The sides noted the dynamic and productive character of the negotiation work with an eye to completing it before the deadline set by the Presidents – December 5, 2009.

Russian-American cooperation in the realm of nonproliferation was touched upon, mainly in the context of preparations for a summit on nuclear security to be held in the US in April 2010, and the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons. The participants noted the need for greater bilateral collaboration on these issues as well.

Certain European security issues were discussed, primarily the situation surrounding the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe. The need was stated to reinvigorate efforts aimed at resolving the problems existing in this regard.

The date for the next meeting of the group will be arranged later.