By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow
Published: 11:30AM BST 06 Jul 2009
Obama in Russia: U.S. President Barack Obama, first lady Michelle Obama and daughters Sasha and Malia arrive at Vnukovo airport outside Moscow. Photo: REUTERS
Deflecting fears that the most important element of Mr Obama's two-day visit to Moscow was in danger of collapsing, diplomats on both sides said they had completed the wording of a joint proclamation that the two leaders will make later on Monday.
"The text of the document has been agreed," a Russian foreign ministry official was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Although the agreement is expected to be largely symbolic, doubts had been raised as to whether it would be signed at all after Mr Medvedev linked a nuclear arms deal to the much more contentious issue of missile defence.
As late as Sunday afternoon, Russian officials had indicated that the text of the framework agreement had not been completed.
But just hours before Mr Obama's arrival in Moscow on Monday afternoon, a US official confirmed that the two leaders would have a complete agenda to discuss.
"There is text for them to review," the official said.
Mr Obama and Mr Medvedev are to hold talks inside the Kremlin for over four hours.
They are expected to impose a December deadline on negotiators to agree a new treaty implementing substantial nuclear cuts.
But both leaders are likely to postpone discussion on a missile defence shield the United States wants to build in Poland and the Czech Republic until later in the year.
A project vigorously promoted by the Bush administration, the shield is meant to protect the United States and its allies from a nuclear attack by Iran, US officials say.
The Kremlin believes its true purpose is to weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent and the issue has become one of the most divisive factors plaguing already strained relations between the two former Cold War adversaries.
Over the weekend, Mr Medvedev hinted that Russia could walk away from a new nuclear arms deal unless Mr Obama showed "restraint" over the missile shield, which is due to be built in 2011. The US president has not yet made a decision on the project's future.
Yet both sides see the benefits of a nuclear deal. For the United States, a new pact would largely be of symbolic importance, presenting Mr Obama with a foreign policy success and allowing him to take the lead in international disarmament.
With an aging nuclear arsenal, Russia needs the deal more in practical terms. Experts estimate that Russia will be unable to sustain an arsenal of more than 500 deployed warheads by 2020.
A new pact, replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed at the end of the Cold War, would allow Russia to maintain nuclear parity with the United States. It would also give Russia the prestige it desperately craves by resurrecting the type of top-level negotiations that marked the Soviet Union out as a superpower during the Cold War.
Mr Obama has pledged to make a fresh start with Russia after years of poor relations under the Bush administration.
But he is also likely to insist that Russia shows an equal desire for compromise.
Employing a bold but risky strategy, Mr Obama has hailed Mr Medvedev as a leader committed to progress while simultaneously criticizing Vladmir Putin, Russia's powerful prime minister, as a relic of the past who has been unable to shed his Cold War mindset.
Mr Medvedev is still very much viewed as Mr Putin's protege and the junior member of Russia's ruling duumvirate.
As part of his campaign to elevate the Russian president's importance on the international stage, Mr Obama will only meet Mr Putin for 90 minutes on Tuesday, prompting complaints from the prime minister's spokesman that the time allotted is "very short".
As late as Sunday afternoon, Russian officials had indicated that the text of the framework agreement had not been completed.
But just hours before Mr Obama's arrival in Moscow on Monday afternoon, a US official confirmed that the two leaders would have a complete agenda to discuss.
"There is text for them to review," the official said.
Mr Obama and Mr Medvedev are to hold talks inside the Kremlin for over four hours.
They are expected to impose a December deadline on negotiators to agree a new treaty implementing substantial nuclear cuts.
But both leaders are likely to postpone discussion on a missile defence shield the United States wants to build in Poland and the Czech Republic until later in the year.
A project vigorously promoted by the Bush administration, the shield is meant to protect the United States and its allies from a nuclear attack by Iran, US officials say.
The Kremlin believes its true purpose is to weaken Russia's nuclear deterrent and the issue has become one of the most divisive factors plaguing already strained relations between the two former Cold War adversaries.
Over the weekend, Mr Medvedev hinted that Russia could walk away from a new nuclear arms deal unless Mr Obama showed "restraint" over the missile shield, which is due to be built in 2011. The US president has not yet made a decision on the project's future.
Yet both sides see the benefits of a nuclear deal. For the United States, a new pact would largely be of symbolic importance, presenting Mr Obama with a foreign policy success and allowing him to take the lead in international disarmament.
With an aging nuclear arsenal, Russia needs the deal more in practical terms. Experts estimate that Russia will be unable to sustain an arsenal of more than 500 deployed warheads by 2020.
A new pact, replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed at the end of the Cold War, would allow Russia to maintain nuclear parity with the United States. It would also give Russia the prestige it desperately craves by resurrecting the type of top-level negotiations that marked the Soviet Union out as a superpower during the Cold War.
Mr Obama has pledged to make a fresh start with Russia after years of poor relations under the Bush administration.
But he is also likely to insist that Russia shows an equal desire for compromise.
Employing a bold but risky strategy, Mr Obama has hailed Mr Medvedev as a leader committed to progress while simultaneously criticizing Vladmir Putin, Russia's powerful prime minister, as a relic of the past who has been unable to shed his Cold War mindset.
Mr Medvedev is still very much viewed as Mr Putin's protege and the junior member of Russia's ruling duumvirate.
As part of his campaign to elevate the Russian president's importance on the international stage, Mr Obama will only meet Mr Putin for 90 minutes on Tuesday, prompting complaints from the prime minister's spokesman that the time allotted is "very short".
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