Several dozen of US and Russian organizations and ex-officials have jointly called on Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, ahead of their summit next week to take steps to decrease the threat of nuclear war, advocacy group Arms Control Association announced in a release on Tuesday
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 08th June, 2021) Several dozen of US and Russian organizations and ex-officials have jointly called on Russian and US Presidents, Vladimir Putin and Joe Biden, ahead of their summit next week to take steps to decrease the threat of nuclear war, advocacy group Arms Control Association announced in a release on Tuesday.
"In advance of the first summit between Presidents Vladimir Putin and Joseph R. Biden in Geneva on June 16, a group of more than 30 American and Russian organizations, international nuclear policy experts, and former senior officials have issued an appeal to the two Presidents calling upon them to launch a regular dialogue on strategic stability, to take meaningful steps to reduce the risk of nuclear war, and to make further progress on nuclear arms control and disarmament," the release said.
The appeal was initiated by the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, the Pugwash Conference on Science and Global Affairs, and the Arms Control Association, according to the release.
The other co-signers of the call are former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, former US Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, president of the Nuclear Threat Initiative Joan Rohlfing, former Governor of California Edmund G. Brown, as well as former chief of staff of Russian Strategic Missile Forces Colonel General Victor Esin.
"We appeal to you to show the same courage and sense of urgency again when you meet in Geneva. Specifically, we urge you to: Reaffirm the joint statement of Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan: 'A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,'" the appeal said. "Commit to a bilateral strategic dialogue that is regular, frequent, comprehensive and result oriented leading to further reduction of the nuclear risk hanging over the world and to the re-discovery of the road to a world free of nuclear weapons."
The Association noted that the statement has already been delivered to both governments on June 7.
In their statement, the signatories expressed hope that the upcoming meeting will contribute to rebuilding mutual respect and cooperation between Moscow and Washington.
They stressed that since the Soviet-US alliance defeated fascism in 1945, Russian and US leaders "have several times channeled the courage to work together to put an end to the greatest risk facing humanity."
"In their cooperation to create the 1968 Nonproliferation Treaty, your predecessors limited the spread of the most dangerous weapons ever invented and committed to their ultimate elimination," the appeal said.
The signatories underscored that bilateral treaties have reduced the number of such weapons by more than 85 percent.
They also praised in the appeal the decision of the two presidents to extend the New START Treaty.
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said earlier that Putin and Biden are expected to discuss a wide range of bilateral issues related to strategic stability and arms control, including recent cybercrime activity from hacking groups.
