Arms Control, Security Seen Leading Agenda of Proposed Putin-Biden Summit
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
The U.S. ambassador for disarmament says preparations for a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Joe Biden are under way. The two presidents “have agreed to explore strategic stability discussions on a range of arms-control and emerging security issues,” Robert Wood told a United Nations conference on May 11. “They are in the process of preparing for these discussions.” Speaking during a visit to Baku, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov backed up Wood’s comments, saying that Moscow had proposed discussing arms control and security matters if the bilateral summit were to take place.
Registration Opens for Hopefuls in Iran’s Presidential Vote
Nasser Karimi and Jon Gambrell | Associated Press
Iran opened registration Tuesday for potential candidates in the country’s June presidential election, kicking off the race as uncertainty looms over Tehran’s tattered nuclear deal with world powers and tensions remain high with the West. President Hassan Rouhani can’t run again due to term limits, yet with the poll just a month away no immediate favorite has emerged among the many rumored candidates. There also appears to be little interest in the vote by a public crushed by sanctions and the coronavirus pandemic.
South’s Moon Hopes to Restart N. Korean Diplomacy With Biden
Hyung-Jin Kim | Associated Press
South Korea’s leader said Monday he’ll use his upcoming summit with President Joe Biden to push to restart diplomacy with North Korea, saying that the U.S. has opted for a diplomatic, phased approach to resolve the North Korean nuclear crisis. The White House recently said officials completed a review of North Korea policy and suggested the Biden administration would seek a middle ground between Donald Trump’s “grand bargain” and Barack Obama’s “strategic patience” approaches as a way to curb the North’s nuclear ambitions.
Putin Moves to Quit Open Skies as Russia Looks to Biden Summit
Ilya Arkhipov | Bloomberg
President Vladimir Putin moved to withdraw from the Open Skies treaty already abandoned by the U.S., as Russia said it hopes summit talks with President Joe Biden will focus on strategic stability. The Kremlin sent a bill to the lower house of parliament Tuesday formally repudiating the treaty, saying remaining bound by its terms would be a “threat to the national interests of the Russian Federation.” State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said lawmakers would act quickly to consider the proposal.
White House’s Slate of Nominees Would Put Familiar Faces Back in the Pentagon
Defense News
After three months of silence on who would make up his administration’s top Pentagon leaders, President Joe Biden announced the names of 17 potential officials in April. Of those, four will be critical in deciding how the Pentagon will modernize and how it will transition to focus on China in an era of relatively constrained spending.
Senior U.S. Officials: Biden Will Review Nuke-Modernizing Plan
Takashi Watanabe and Ryo Takano | Asahi Shimbun
High-ranking U.S. officials said the administration of President Joe Biden will re-examine and possibly save on the costs of upgrading nuclear weaponry, a departure from his predecessor. “Certainly that’s the objective of the president, is to find ways to reduce the goal of nuclear weapons, and so we look forward to examining those issues, as part of our Nuclear Posture Review,” said Leonor Tomero, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Nuclear and Missile Defense Policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.