NUCLEAR WEAPONS

The following are key excerpts from the speech by U.S. President Barack Obama to graduating students of the New Economic School in Moscow on Tuesday. The text was provided by the White House.

President Barack Obama and Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev on Monday agreed a target of cutting vast Cold War arsenals of deployed nuclear warheads by around a third from current levels to 1,500-1,675 each.

The following are analysts' comments on agreements reached on Monday between U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.

The United States and Russia started their third round talks on a new strategic arms reduction pact on Monday in Geneva.

Russia is ready to dramatically cut its nuclear stockpiles in a new arms pact with the United States if Washington meets Russia's concerns over missile defense, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Saturday.

Russia said on Thursday that talks with the United States on reducing vast arsenals of Cold War nuclear weapons were proceeding constructively ahead of a visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Moscow in July.

A second nuclear test by North Korea has wasted a long-awaited chance for progress in global nuclear disarmament and rekindled a climate of confrontation, the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog said on Monday.

North Korea is unlikely to respond militarily to planned U.N. sanctions for its nuclear test, but the possibility should not be completely dismissed, U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates said.

North Korea, irked by South Korean and Japanese criticism of its nuclear test, said on Tuesday it may not support moves to curb production of nuclear bomb-making material, jeopardizing the start of global talks on the issue.

Iran has no missile or nuclear cooperation with North Korea, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday, after North Korea conducted a second and far more powerful nuclear test.

The consequences of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon would be calamitous and major powers must act together to prevent it, the top U.S. military officer said on Thursday.

News reports about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal, including questions about its safety, are part of a malicious campaign that is counter-productive to efforts to defeat terrorism, a Pakistani spokesman said on Thursday.

The United States must allay Russian concerns over its planned anti-missile system in Europe if the two sides are to achieve a breakthrough on cutting nuclear weapons, Russia's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Vast stockpiles of nuclear weapons amassed during the Cold War could become the catalyst for a thaw in relations this week between the United States and Russia.

North Korea on Wednesday threatened a new nuclear test unless the U.N. Security Council apologizes for tightening sanctions, confirming some analysts' fears that Pyongyang was determined to build an atomic arsenal.

U.S. President Barack Obama discussed North Korea's missile and nuclear weapons threat with Japan’s Prime Minister Tarso Aso in a telephone talk Friday.

Negotiators from the United States and Russia will take the first steps toward a new treaty to curb nuclear arms Friday, part of an effort to improve relations.

Russia responded cautiously on Monday to U.S. President Barack Obama's plans for a nuclear-free world, saying a number of conditions would need to be met for the vision to become reality.

North Korea has ordered U.N. inspectors to leave its Yongbyon complex, after saying it would quit international nuclear disarmament talks and restart the plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul called on Wednesday for a Middle East free of weapons of mass destruction, hoping that a U.S.-Russian pledge to join forces to eradicate nuclear weapons will encourage the region.

Iran criticized on Monday U.S. President Barack Obama for saying Tehran posed a threat with its nuclear program and urged Washington and other countries possessing atom weapons to dismantle their arsenals.