The World Council of Churches (WCC) lauded today's signing of a new nuclear disarmament agreement between Russia and the United States, saying the event is something the ecumenical group has "awaited for a long time."

"We see this as a sign of the leadership needed for establishing a sustainable and just peace in the world," WCC General Secretary the Rev. Olav Tveit said in a statement.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the treaty today in Prague, Czech Republic where one year earlier President Obama had made a speech in support of a nuclear-free world.

The new agreement, which replaces 1991's Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), calls for a cut in each country's nuclear arsenals by about 30 percent, leaving each with around 1,500 weapons.

The treaty also requires the countries to reduce their carriers of nuclear weapons, such as bombers, submarines, and missiles by 50 percent.

Tveit, who called the arsenal cuts "modest," said that the "most promising" element of the treaty was about the two leaders' agreement to "be more open about their respective nuclear arsenals."

"If the world's most powerful states practice new levels of nuclear transparency and verification, as we hope they will, they will be able to bring new leadership and hope to bear on a range of nuclear arms problems," Tveit said. "New confidence between them can also pave the way for more and deeper cuts in their still-prodigious nuclear arsenals."

Following the signing, Obama remarked that the agreement "an important milestone for nuclear security and non-proliferation, adding that the ceremony was a "testament that old adversaries can forge new partnerships."

"Given this legacy of the Cold War, it is critical for us to show significant leadership," Obama said.

President Medvedev also hailed the agreement, calling it a phenomenon that "a couple of months ago seemed impossible," and noted that the "drift" in relations between the U.S. and Russia has been halted.

Alongside the celebration, the two presidents also made commitments towards creating new sanctions against Iran for their defiance against the U.N.'s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), a law that Tveit says is "the most important disarmament agreement of all."

"We are working together at the United Nations Security Council to pass strong sanctions on Iran, and we will not tolerate actions that flout NPT," Medvedev said.

The U.S.'s new nuclear policy, unveiled earlier this week, also adds North Korea to a list of nuclear treaty dissenters that Defense Secretary Robert Gates said will be dealt with considering "all options…on the table."

President Obama will be hosting an international meeting next week in Washington to further discuss strengthening international treaties and keeping nuclear weapons away from terrorist groups.