Wednesday, April 21, 2010
United States and Russia on Tuesday launched a joint appeal to all nuclear- armed countries to build on the momentum created by their deal and join the disarmament process. This was on the day later after signing a pact to reduce their atomic arsenal. Top diplomats from the United States and Russia called on other member-states to work towards the goal of non – proliferation and disarmament, at an UN General Assembly’s thematic debate on World Security and Disarmament.
Vitaly Churkin, the Russian envoy told the gathered delegation, “We call on all states without exception, and first and foremost those that have nuclear arsenals, to join efforts with Russia and the United States in this field and to contribute actively to the disarmament process”. US envoy to the UN, Susan Rice, said: “We encourage all delegation to put aside dated arguments and build on today’s momentum to make progress on peaceful uses of nuclear energy, nonproliferation and disarmament”.
President Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev signed the “New START” treaty that would reduce their arsenal by one-third. The countries warheads will go down from 2,200 to 1,550 each, over seven years. Rice said, “The signing of this treaty is a major milestone for nonproliferation and nuclear security, delivering on President Obama’s pledge a year ago to take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons”.
According to the new Obama Nuclear Posture Review, has pledged not to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear weapon state that is in compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligation and is party to the NPT. Rice said, as an obvious swipe at Iran and North Korea, “All nations must recognize that the non-proliferation regime is undermined if violators are allowed to act with impunity”. Speaking on the occasion Ban Ki-moon Secretary-General urged nations to tilt the balance of their spending from weapons to development.
