Obama, Medvedev: Let’s START Today

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty between the U.S. and Russia expires on Saturday. U.S. and Russian negotiators have been working on a successor treaty to drastically reduce their nuclear arsenals, but they haven’t reached a final deal. So instead, according to a just-released joint statement from Presidents Obama and Medvedev, they’re going to act for all intents and purposes like the treaty is still in place even after its expiration, and continue to task their negotiators to nail it down. The text of the statement:

Recognizing our mutual determination to support strategic stability between the United States of America and the Russian Federation, we express our commitment, as a matter of principle, to continue to work together in the spirit of the START Treaty following its expiration, as well as our firm intention to ensure that a new treaty on strategic arms enter into force at the earliest possible date.