A deal — a small but important step toward Obama's goal of a nuclear arms-free world — could build momentum and trust toward resolving other key nuclear issues. They range from how to pressure Iran and North Korea to abandon their nuclear ambitions to reducing the number of tactical nuclear weapons that are so unpopular in Europe. It could also set a positive tone for a key conference on nuclear non-proliferation this spring.
On another level, it could bolster Obama's credibility overseas, which has been battered by the disappointing Copenhagen climate change conference, ongoing economic miseries, faltering Middle East peace efforts and growing skepticism about last year's Prague speech in which he promised to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
"It's important to show the Prague speech was not just rhetoric," Mark Fitzpatrick, senior fellow for non-proliferation at the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies, told The Associated Press.
An agreement would end a drought in disarmament accords between the United States and Russia, which were a hallmark of the Cold War years and were negotiated even during the worst periods of tension between them. It officially would reconfirm Moscow's nuclear superpower status, which remains an essential element of its national identity and prestige.
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