IN THE NEWS - US/Russia Arms Reduction Agreement

By Caty Weaver¹
IN THE NEWS -May 18, 2002: US/Russia Arms Reduction Agreement

This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS.

Russia and the United States have reached an agreement to reduce the number of nuclear weapons they possess.
Russian and American diplomats² have been negotiating the deal for months. President Bush and Russian
President Vladimir Putin say they will sign the treaty next week when Mister Bush visits Moscow.

Mister Bush said the signing will begin a new period in relations between the United
States and Russia. He said it will make the world more peaceful and put old
aggressions in the past. President Putin said he was pleased that negotiators had
been able to settle the final differences.

The agreement calls for each country to cut its nuclear weapons by two-thirds

during the next ten years. That would mean a reduction for each side from about six-
thousand nuclear weapons now to as few as one-thousand-seven-hundred. However, the weapons do not have to
be destroyed. They can be removed from deployment³ and stored.

The United States has always demanded that the weapons not have to be destroyed. Russia always objected to
this demand. Russian Defense⁴ Minister Sergei Ivanov says his government still opposes the American position
that the weapons only need to be taken out of deployment.

Some lawmakers in the United States also think the agreement should call for the destruction of the weapons.
Democratic Representative Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts called the agreement a great step. But, he said
destroying weapons would make sure that terrorists would never gain possession of them.

Russia made other compromises to reach agreement. For example, the plan does not contain any restrictions⁵ on
the United States plan to build a missile defense system. The agreement also permits either side to withdraw from
the treaty if such a withdrawal⁶ is announced at least ninety days before it happens. And, the treaty ends in ten
years with no conditions that it be extended.

President Bush’s administration wanted these terms if there was to be any treaty at all. Mister Bush had earlier
suggested that he would be satisfied with a spoken agreement. But, Mister Putin wanted an official and legal
treaty. Experts believe the treaty will generally help the Russia in its effort to become a more involved member of
the international community. The cuts will permit the Russian government to spend more money on antiterrorism
measures and the fight against the illegal drug trade.

Russian and American negotiators still have work to do on issues linked to the new weapons agreement. For
example, they did not decide how to confirm weapons reductions. But they believe they will be able to create
such a plan during more talks after the treaty is signed next week.

This VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS was written by Caty Weaver. This is Steve Ember.

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1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

4 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

5 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。