Obama holds bilateral talks with Czech president before heading back to Washington

US President Barack Obama met with his Czech counterpart Václav Klaus on Friday, capping a two-day trip to the Czech Republic which saw the signing of a landmark nuclear arms treaty between the US and Russia. Prague Castle was the venue a day earlier for the signing of the new deal by Mr Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. By signing the treaty Russia and the US have agreed to reduce their nuclear stockpiles by 30 percent more than in a previous deal, but in order to come into effect the treaty will still have to ratified by legislators in both countries.

Mr Obama’s meeting with Václav Klaus shortly before heading back to the US on Friday was brief but Mr Klaus said the two had discussed important issues, including the naming of a new US ambassador to Prague, as well as the planned completion of the Czech Republic’s Temelín nuclear power plant. That is a project in which US-based company Westinghouse is hoping to bid. On the whole, Mr Obama spent around 26 hours in the Czech capital, a year after his first visit when he first outlined his administration’s plans for reducing nuclear weapons.

Author: Jan Velinger