United States, Russian Federation Should Hold Talks to Further Cut Nuclear Arsenal, Secretary-General Says, Praising Reductions Under New START Treaty

The following statement was issued today by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres:

The Secretary-General congratulates the United States and the Russian Federation on successfully reducing their strategic nuclear forces to the level required by the Treaty on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms, otherwise known as “New START”.

New START, which reduces deployed nuclear weapons to 700 delivery vehicles and 1,550 warheads, is part of a series of bilateral nuclear arms control agreements between the Russian Federation and the United States that have significantly reduced the dangers posed by nuclear weapons and are steps towards the common aspiration of a world free of nuclear weapons.

The Secretary-General stresses that at a time when global anxieties about nuclear weapons are higher than at any time since the cold war, efforts in nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control are more vital than ever.

These endeavours can play significant roles in building trust and confidence, and preventing, mitigating and resolving conflicts.

The Secretary-General calls on the United States and the Russian Federation to engage in the necessary dialogue that will lead to further arsenal reductions and to continue to display the historic leadership across the multilateral disarmament agenda that has proven so valuable to our collective security.