Sitting with his Russian counterpart, Obama said the pair discussed a successor to the 1991 START agreement and described “excellent progress over the last several months.’’
“I’m confident that if we work hard and with a sense of urgency, we’ll be able to get that done,’’ Obama said, adding that technical issues remain.
Medvedev said he hoped negotiators would “finalize the text of the document by December.’’
While publicizing progress with Russia on arms control, Obama and other leaders meeting in Singapore bowed to the obvious on climate change. They discussed a compromise agreement for a 192-nation gathering next month in Copenhagen, indirectly acknowledging that the meeting would not produce a new global treaty to reduce heat-trapping carbon emissions.
Obama also attended a second summit with leaders of the 10 countries that make up the Association of Southeast Asia Nations. Obama sat in on meetings that included a senior leader of Myanmar - part of a shift in US policy away from isolating the repressive military government.
Afterward, Robert Gibbs, White House spokesman, said Obama told the gathering, General Thein Sein of Myanmar included, that the government of what once was known as Burma must free long-detained democracy leader and Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other political prisoners.
Myanmar ranks high among nations that suppress human rights, but a joint statement by the United States and the ASEAN group made no mention of Suu Kyi.
The whirlwind of summitry is part of Obama’s first presidential trip to the region. Its emphasis on big issues like climate change, disarmament, and the economic crisis is part of Obama’s approach to persuade new emerging powers like China to share in the burden of managing global challenges.
Obama arrived in Shanghai last night, launching a three-day visit to an important global US partner and his first travels in China. His schedule called for a state visit to Beijing hosted by President Hu Jintao of China.
