Reporting from Moscow — President Obama and his family arrived in Russia early this morning, stepping off Air Force One under a gray sky ahead of a day of meetings at the Kremlin.
After a visit to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in the Kremlin.
Medvedev said he expects that, in their talks, the two will be closing some debates of the past and opening some debates of the future.
Obama said he thinks the Russians and Americans "have more in common than they have differences." The two shook hands and smiled for photographers.
Even before the president arrived for the round of nuclear-arms talks, administration officials were already predicting the two leaders would announce tentative agreements as early as today.
Since the two leaders met in London this spring, the two countries have been engaged in diplomatic talks to hammer our particular details of disarmament. Negotiators have come to several points of agreement, officials say, which the presidents are expected to seal.
They also may announce formally a deal with the Russians to allow the Americans use of their airspace to travel to and from Afghanistan.
The ultimate goal is to replace the START arms-reduction treaty, which expires at the end of this year. And there are still significant obstacles to that.
Speaking with Russian television over the weekend, Obama said only that he hoped to get the "framework" of a treaty together during his meetings with Medvedev.
"For us to send a strong signal that we want to reduce our stockpiles, I think, would help us internationally, to give people a sense that we’re moving into a new era and we want to get beyond the Cold War," Obama said in an interview with ITAR-TASS TV.
Gary Samore, the White House pointman on weapons of mass destruction, acknowledged that a major point of contention is the U.S. push for a missile defense system based in Poland and the Czech Republic.
Russian officials consider that a direct challenge to their nuclear program — and a stumbling block to the "New Start" agreement.
The president, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters met a small greeting party at the airport.
As they made their way from the airport into the city of Moscow, the streets were intermittently lined with people watching the motorcade pass. A few waved the "peace" sign, but mostly they just looked on silently.
At the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a military band played a mournful tune as a military escort accompanied President Obama and the first lady in a slow procession to a bowl with a flickering flame. The soldiers placed a wreath before the flame, and Obama adjusted it a little before the band struck up the U.S. national anthem.
