President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a preliminary agreement last Monday in Moscow, to reduce the world’s two largest nuclear stockpiles by as much as a third, down to the lowest levels of any US-Russia accord, and counter what President Obama called ‘a sense of drift’ in the countries’ relations, AP reported.

“We must lead by example, and that’s what we are doing here today,” President Obama declared in a Kremlin hall glittering in gold. “We resolve to reset US-Russian relations so that we can cooperate more effectively in areas of common interest.”

The document signed by the two leaders at a Moscow summit, President Obama’s first in Russia, is meant as a guide for negotiators as the nations work toward a replacement pact for the START arms control agreement that is due to expire in December. The joint understanding also commits the countries to lower longer-range missiles for delivering nuclear bombs.

President Medvedev called Monday’s agreement a “reasonable compromise while a White House statement said the new treaty “will include effective verification measures” and Mr Obama said it would be completed by the end of the year. He also held out hope to “move even beyond that in subsequent agreements and treaties” and said he wanted to host a summit on global nuclear security next year in the United States.

More broadly, Mr Obama needs Russia’s help in pressuring Iran and North Korea to give up their nuclear weapons ambitions, and also in tackling terrorism, global warming and worldwide economic woes. But ties are frayed over Moscow’s war in Georgia last year and the US plan for a new missile defence system in Eastern Europe, so Mr Obama’s desire to move forward is a huge test of his diplomatic skills.

“The president and I agreed that the relationship between Russia and the United States has suffered from a sense of drift,” he said at Mr Medvedev’s side. “President Medvedev and I are committed to leaving behind the suspicion and rivalry of the past.”

His host expressed similar good will.

“This is the first but very important step in improving full-scale cooperation between our two countries, which would go to the benefit of both states,” the Russian leader said. Injecting a note of caution, he said that discussions so far “cannot remove the burden of all the problems.”

The two leaders appeared together at a news conference where they and other officials from both countries signed and exchanged documents with great flourish and much handshaking.

President Emeritus Guido de Marco

Dr Guido de Marco, who served as president of the United Nations General Assembly between 1990 and 1991, praised the nuclear reduction agreement reached between Russia and the US, saying it is another manifestation that the Cold War is over.

“When I met former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 2005, he told me he was still worried that even if on paper, the Cold War had ended, missiles were still on the increase. I was bothered and concerned, and I can vouch on the correctness of his comment, and now, on the importance of the US-Russia agreement.

“US President Barack Obama is delivering. The two young presidents (Obama and Russian president Dmitry Medvedev) have reached an agreement towards peace. It will help truly end the Cold War,” said Prof. de Marco.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi

“The agreement laying the groundwork for the negotiation of a new arms control treaty to replace the 1991 pact which expires in December is certainly an important and welcome step.

“It manifests a reciprocal commitment to substantially reduce nuclear arsenals on both sides. This should in turn have a positive impact on the enhancement of relations between the US and Russia, as well as global efforts geared at the containment of the proliferation of nuclear weapons, the securitisation of nuclear facilities worldwide and the reduction of the global complement of nuclear armaments.”

Opposition Leader Joseph Muscat

“We welcome the agreement between the United States and Russia to cut back their nations’ stockpiles of nuclear weapons and praise the very fact that both states are leading by example on this issue.

It is also positive to note that it seems the US and Russia are slowly leaving behind the suspicion and the rivalry of the recent past.

With this agreement, President Obama’s ambitious target of a world free of nuclear weapons seems a little bit closer. We hope that this sets the wheels of nuclear disarmament turning again.

As a party which has a history of actively working for peace, we believe that this is the only way of securing a better world for all.”

US Charge’ d’Affaires, Jason Davis

“President Obama has made it clear that Americans and Russians share a common interest on many issues that form the basis of our cooperation. We are building a world that ensures the safety and economic prosperity of all people, and this agreement is a wonderful example of these efforts.”

1989: Summit ends cold war from Yalta to Malta

The leaders of the two world superpowers, US President George H. Bush and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, had declared an end to the Cold War after two days of storm-lashed talks at the historical summit held in Malta.

The Malta summit in December 1989 is regarded by many as the official end of the Cold War, although some also think that little of substance was actually agreed.

The Malta summit was hailed as the most important since 1945 when Churchill, Stalin and Roosevelt agreed a post-war plan for Europe at Yalta.

At a joint news conference held on board the Soviet cruise ship, Maxim Gorky, the two men announced they had set the stage for big reductions in troops and weapons in Europe.

The two leaders had met face-to-face for the first time against a backdrop of fast-moving change in Eastern Europe.

The Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev had said, “I assured the President of the United States that I will never start a hot war against the USA.”

For his part, US President George Bush said, “We can realise a lasting peace and transform the East-West relationship to one of enduring cooperation. That is the future that Chairman Gorbachev and I began right here in Malta.”

US-Soviet relations had thawed during the second term of President Ronald Reagan as he and Gorbachev developed a personal rapport, signed the first treaty between the superpowers to reduce nuclear weapons arsenals, and moved forward on further arms negotiations. Bush’s presidency began with a slow down in diplomacy with the Soviets as his administration formulated a new foreign policy that came to be characterised by the slogan ‘beyond containment’, one that sought to encourage a ‘significant shift in the Soviet Union’ and that would allow ‘the integration of the Soviet Union into the community of nations’.

At the Malta summit, Bush presented some 20 initiatives, including efforts to normalise trade and move forward on arms control agreements. The two, however, did not see eye-to-eye on every issue. In fact, Bush had refused Gorbachev’s request to begin talks on naval arms control; Gorbachev assured Bush that Nicaragua had denied they were supplying arms to Salvadoran rebels, while Bush insisted they were continuing to do so.

At the conclusion of the talks, Gorbachev told Bush that the Soviet Union was “ready no longer to regard the United States as an adversary.”