The United States and Russia have agreed to reopen talks on reducing long-range nuclear weapons. The announcement was made as U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met in London, the site of the G20 economic summit.
美国和俄罗斯同意重启削减远程核武器的会谈。美国总统奥巴马和俄罗斯总统梅德维杰夫在伦敦晤时发表上述声明。两人都将参加即将在伦敦开幕的20国集团经济事务首脑会议。
President Obama and Mr. Medvedev say it is time to begin a new era in U.S.-Russian relations.
奥巴马和梅德维杰夫两位总统都表示，美俄关系开始新时代的时刻已经来临。
They are starting with a pledge to reduce strategic offensive arms.
他们以保证减少战略攻击性武器作为新关系的开始。
"What I believe we have begun today is a very constructive dialogue that will allow us to work on issues of mutual interest, like the reduction of nuclear weapons and the strengthening of our non-proliferation treaties," said Mr. Obama.
奥巴马说：“我认为我们今天开始的是一个富有建设性的对话，将使我们能在双方感兴趣的问题上开始合作，比如减少核武器，以及加强我们的核不扩散条约。”
In a written statement issued as they met in London, they announced the first substantive round of arms talks between their two countries in more than a decade.
两位领导人在伦敦会见之后发表的书面声明宣布了10年多来两国首次实质性的武器问题会谈。
New arms deal?
They say they are instructing their negotiators to begin work on a new arms deal to replace the soon-to-expire Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which was signed in 1991.
两位总统说，他们将指示谈判人员开始制订新的武器协议，取代1991年签署的、很快就要到期的《削减战略武器条约》。
The goal is to go well beyond the so-called START agreement, which limited their nuclear arsenals to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads.
双方的目标要远远超过所谓的“第一阶段削减战略武器条约”的规定，该条约规定允许各方拥有1700到2200枚核弹头。
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says the two countries have not settled on a new cap. But as he sat down with the Russian leader for the first time, President Obama sounded optimistic.
白宫发言人吉布斯说，两国领导人还没有确定新的核弹头数量限额。不过当奥巴马首次和俄罗斯领导人坐下来会谈的时候，他的语气非常乐观。
"What we are seeing today is the beginning of new progress in U.S.-Russian relations," he said.
他说：“今天我们看到的是美俄关系新进展的开端。”
President plans July visit to Moscow
Mr. Obama said he has accepted an invitation to visit Russia in July, when negotiators on the new treaty are expected to report back to their respective governments.
奥巴马说，他接受了今年7月访问俄罗斯的邀请，这个时间正是新条约谈判人员预计向各自政府汇报谈判进展情况的时候。
"The president extended an invitation for me to visit Moscow, to build on some of the areas that we discussed today, and I have agreed to visit Moscow in July, which we both agreed was a better time than January to visit," he said.
奥巴马说：“梅德维杰夫总统向我发出了访问莫斯科的邀请，以便深化我们今天讨论的一些领域，我接受了7月份访问莫斯科的邀请。我们两人都认为这个时间访问比明年1月更适当。”
Medvedev: better relations possible
President Medvedev joined Mr. Obama's assessment that U.S. Russian relations have been drifting in recent years, and drifting in the wrong direction.
梅德维杰夫总统同意奥巴马的说法，认为俄美关系近几年一直存在偏离，而且是在错误的方向上偏离。
Speaking in Russian, he talked about the prospects for improving cooperation, saying there are many concerns the two countries can address together, even though they have differences in other areas.
梅德维杰夫谈到改善合作的前景。他说，即使两国在一些领域存在分歧，仍然可以讨论很多共同关心的问题。
Administration officials say President Obama did not shy away from raising those differences during his talks with the Russian president. They say the discussions covered the situation in Georgia, and the dispute over a pending U.S. plan to put components of a missile-defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic.
美国政府官员说，奥巴马总统在会晤梅德维杰夫总统时并没有回避这些分歧。他们表示，会谈讨论了格鲁吉亚局势，以及美国计划在波兰和捷克共和国布署部分导弹防御体系设施等问题。 |