Obama in Moscow: No Decision on Missile Shield (Yet)

As American President Obama met his Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, today in Moscow, the Polish press, along with many Poles, were waiting for a decision regarding two key words that could significantly affect the country’s future: “missile shield.”

However, today’s meeting centred primarily around the issue of nuclear disarmament – an urgent matter considering that the last treaty concerning nuclear disarmament, the 1991 Start I treaty, is set to expire this December.

Presidents Obama and Medvedev signed a “joint understanding”, requiring both countries to reduce their arsenals of nuclear warheads to below 1,675 units within seven years of the signing of a treaty.

At the moment though, no concrete decision has been reached regarding the missile shield. But the message from Moscow is clear: the missile shield is viewed as a threat to Russian sovereignty, and it is unlikely a disarmament treaty will be signed until plans for the shield are scrapped.

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