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| Obama urges shift in Russia ties | |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| US President Barack Obama has urged Russia to turn from the past, emphasising the common goals the US shares with its former Cold War rival. | US President Barack Obama has urged Russia to turn from the past, emphasising the common goals the US shares with its former Cold War rival. |
| He told young graduates in Moscow they were the "last generation" to be born in a "divided world". | He told young graduates in Moscow they were the "last generation" to be born in a "divided world". |
| Mr Obama sought to reassure the country that the US sought a "strong, peaceful and prosperous" Russia. | Mr Obama sought to reassure the country that the US sought a "strong, peaceful and prosperous" Russia. |
| The speech comes on the second day of Mr Obama's visit to Moscow and followed his first meeting with Vladimir Putin. | The speech comes on the second day of Mr Obama's visit to Moscow and followed his first meeting with Vladimir Putin. |
| During the breakfast talks he told the former president turned prime minister that he had done "extraordinary work" leading Russia. | During the breakfast talks he told the former president turned prime minister that he had done "extraordinary work" leading Russia. |
| 'United' | |
| In his speech, Mr Obama said both Russia and the US had shared common goals in, for example, preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. | |
| "It is not for me to define Russia's national interests, but I can tell you about America's, and I believe that you will see we share common ground," he told the audience at the New Economic School in Moscow. | |
| He added: "Partnership will be stronger if Russia occupies its rightful place as a great power." | |
| Mr Obama said that neither the US nor Russia would benefit from a nuclear arms race in East Asia or the Middle East. | |
| "That is why we should be united in opposing North Korea's efforts to become a nuclear power, and preventing Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon," he said. | |
| On Monday, after meeting Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, he signed eight separate agreements with Russia. | |
| These, he said: "will substantially reduce our warheads and delivery systems". | |
| Among the deals was a pact to negotiate a new arms control treaty to replace the 1991 Start I pact which expires in December. | |
| A new agreement could see the two countries reducing their nuclear warheads by up to a third, to below 1,700 each within seven years of the treaty's signing. |