A pair of apparent suicide bombings that killed 38 commuters and injured scores more on the Moscow subway system Monday reiterated the importance of the U.S.-Russia partnership in fighting terrorism and building global peace, Russia's U.S. ambassador said in Atlanta hours after the attacks.

"This terrorist attack is just another reminder of how serious this problem is and how important it is to work on this issue together. (Terrorism) is a trans-national phenomenon and it has to be addressed," Sergey Kislyak told GlobalAtlanta after speaking at a Georgia Institute of Technology forum on nuclear disarmament.

Mr. Kislyak's speech came less than 10 hours after separate explosions 40 minutes apart rocked two trains during the morning rush hour in the Russian capital. Officials blamed the blasts on two female suicide bombers.

The attacks emphasized the need to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists, Mr. Kislyak said at the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs forum on prospects for a nuclear-free world.

"The biggest problem we all face today and all risk for years to come is the threat of nuclear confrontation," he said.

The Cold War between the U.S. and Russia is over, but the countries face a new challenge: leading by example as they preach non-proliferation to the countries aspiring to join the nuclear club. Combined, the U.S. and Russia own about 22,000 out of the estimated 23,000 nuclear warheads in existence. Both sides have said that they ideally would like to see their arsenals gradually trimmed to zero.

President Obama, who won the Nobel Peace Prize last year partly in recognition of his calls for a nuke-free world, will meet with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev April 8 in Prague, Czech Republic, to sign a treaty they say is a first step toward that goal.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or START, builds on a similar 1991 agreement but goes further by limiting the countries' deployed nuclear warheads to 1,550 each and also capping the number of launchers at 800. It is subject to ratification in both countries' legislatures.

The agreement shows a resurgence in momentum toward a culture of disarmament between the two largest nuclear powers, but as its name implies, the pact is only the "first step," Mr. Kislyak said.

The world remains a volatile place, he said, and nuclear countries like India and Pakistan are unlikely to relinquish their hold on a weapon seen as a strong hedge against regional instability.

Nuclear disarmament should be seen in the broader context of developing sustainable security relationships, said Mr. Kislyak, who spent considerable time in his speech talking about Russia's rocky relationship with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

He also said that efforts to reduce nuclear stockpiles should be enacted along with incentives that encourage countries to deal with growing energy demand by outsourcing nuclear production.

Russia is experimenting with centers that allow other countries to use fuel derived from nuclear materials enriched on Russian soil, making use of the country's existing infrastructure.

"(Participating countries) stand to gain in terms of early access to the enrichment services but without risk of proliferation by expansion of these technologies throughout the world," he said. Kazakhstan and Ukraine have already signed on, and Russia will be recruiting more state partners, he said.

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