“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” – Ronald Reagan, April 30, 1984

Yesterday, President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev formally agreed to the New START Treaty (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty.) While the treaty still needs to be approved by the U.S. Congress and the Russian Duma, the signing of the accord is the most significant development in nuclear weapons negotiations in over twenty years.

The ceremonial signing in Prague did not produce any particularly memorable quotes, but it did recall one from 1984.  It came from a speech by President Ronald Reagan, who was visiting China during the final, but still tense years of the Cold War.

We live in a troubled world, and the United States and China, as two great nations, share a special responsibility to help reduce the risks of war. We both agree that there can be only one sane policy to preserve our precious civilization in this modern age: A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. And no matter how great the obstacles may seem, we must never stop our efforts to reduce the weapons of war. We must never stop at all until we see the day when nuclear arms have been banished from the face of this Earth.

For more on how this has predictably played politically, check out The Atlantic’s Andrew Sullivan’s insight as well as the well-researched and sharp analysis of The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart.