American leaders have put a nuclear cooperation agreement with Russia on hold, directly linking the move to the recent troubles concerning Georgia and South Ossetia. The deal, known as a 123 Agreement after the section of the US Atomic Energy Act which requires it before nuclear trade can take place, had been signed in May by Sergei Kiriyenko and William Burns for the Rosatom agency and the US diplomatic mission to Russia respectively. The signing was accelerated because Kiriyenko was about to leave his post to take charge of the Rosatom corporation and Russian President Vladimir Putin was about to leave office. Its exact text was never revealed, with observers concluding that it must still have been in draft stages. More >>>
