Obama Urges Further US-Russian Nuclear Cuts

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RIA Novosti, PUBLISHED June 20, 2013

US President Barack Obama proposed on Wednesday to cut another one-third of US and Russian nuclear arsenals, stressing that it was possible to ensure a strong deterrent while also limiting nuclear weapons.

“After a comprehensive review I have determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent while reducing our deployed strategic weapons by up to one-third,” Obama said addressing a crowd of some 6,000 guests at the historic Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Under the New START treaty, signed between the United States and Russia in 2010, each side is allowed a maximum of 1,550 warheads and no more than 700 deployed launchers.

Obama said he intended to “seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures,” and also “work with our NATO allies to seek bold reductions in US and Russian tactical weapons in Europe.”

Russian officials and military experts on Wednesday expressed doubts about new nuclear cuts proposals made by Obama in light of US global missile defense plans and attempts by other counties to boost their nuclear arsenals.

Reducing nuclear arms was a centerpiece of Obama’s early first-term national security agenda, but it seems to have lost urgency in the past few years. His speech in Berlin is largely considered an attempt to rekindle the issue.

“We no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” Obama said.

In another recent move aimed at bolstering nuclear security, Moscow and Washington signed a new bilateral framework on nuclear threat reduction on June 14, the White House announced.

The agreement is seen as an extension of the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction umbrella agreement, a 1992 bilateral deal that expired Monday and regulated aspects of weapons transportation, storage and destruction, as well as prevention of proliferation.

Topics: USA, Russia

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