and a series of efforts by the new US Administration are opening new avenues towards practical nuclear disarmament steps and are making the ultimate goal of complete nuclear disarmament and a world free of nuclear weapons more realistic than ever before. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev re-confirmed Russia's commitment to the nuclear disarmament in March 2009 in his address to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Finally, the two Presidents made a historic statement in London on April 1,

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... 09: "As leaders of the two largest nuclear weapons states, we agreed to work together to fulfill our obligations under Article VI of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and demonstrate leadership in reducing the number of nuclear weapons in the world. We committed our two countries to achieving a nuclear free world, while recognizing that this long-term goal will require a new emphasis on arms control and conflict resolution measures, and their full implementation by all concerned nations. We agreed to pursue new and verifiable reductions in our strategic offensive arsenals in a step-by-step process, beginning by replacing the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with a new, legally binding treaty".