President Obama is in Russia today for talks on a new treaty to reduce US and Russian stockpiles of nuclear weapons. Negotiators have agreed to a modest weapons cut but remain in a standstill over the fate of the proposed US missile system in Eastern Europe. The Obama administration has refused to renounce the Bush administration-backed system, even though it’s widely seen as ineffective in its stated purpose of missile defense and actually intended as a first-strike weapon against Iran. The US is also rejecting Russian calls for a sharp reduction in the numbers of long-range missile launchers and heavy bombers under a new treaty. Obama meanwhile has won an agreement to let military flights bound for Afghanistan fly over Russian territory.