August 24, 2012 (TSR) – Russia is “open to new joint initiatives” on nuclear disarmament, provided that this happens on “a fair and reciprocal basis, and must take into account the various factors influencing international security and strategic stability”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
The president sent a telegram this Friday to the attendees of the 20th congress of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, which is taking place in Hiroshima on August 24-26, 2012.
“Protecting humanity from the threats posed by weapons of mass destructions (WMD) is justifiably one of the key issues on the global agenda”, the telegram said.
Such “factors” include “USA’s unilateral and unrestricted deployment of a missile defense system, the threat of weapons deployment in space, the presence of quantitative and qualitative imbalances in conventional arms in Europe,” Putin said.
The Russian Federation makes a substantial contribution to achieving this noble goal by taking concrete and responsible steps to reduce and limit nuclear arms and strengthen the weapons of mass destruction non-proliferation regimes, he said.
“One of the most important areas of our action is Russia’s consistent fulfilment of its obligations under the New START Treaty with the USA, which came into force in 2011,” the message said.
“Our implementation of its provisions is clear evidence of our commitment to a policy of nuclear disarmament,” Putin said.
Russia consistently supports constructive dialogue with all political forces and public movements seeking to reduce the nuclear threat, he said.
He hopes that new ideas and initiatives aimed at bringing humanity closer to the common goal of building a safe and steady developing world be produced in order to foster good conditions for continued nuclear disarmament.
