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Visiting U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday proposed plans for the United States and Russia to further cut strategic nuclear warheads during a landmark speech at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.
Obama renewed his call to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles and said the U.S. would ultimately strive toward eliminating 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 nuclear weapons by up to one third," he said.
"I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," he said.
"We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation, but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe," Obama said.
A one-third cut of the 1,550 atomic weapons agreed in the last Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) treaty between the U.S. and Russia will leave each country with just over 1,000 nuclear weapons.
In response, the Russian government confirmed on Wednesday that Obama had offered to discuss new rounds of nuclear disarmament, but President Vladimir Putin's foreign policy aide Yuri Ushakov told the media in Moscow that other countries that possess nuclear arms should be included in this process.
During his speech, the U.S. president also announced that he would host a nuclear security summit before he leaves office in 2016 to address the international flow of nuclear weapons and material, adding that he would push for domestic support to pass a nuclear test ban treaty.
The United States has about 1,700 nuclear weapons. Under START, which Obama signed with Russia in 2010, Washington and Moscow are committed to cutting their existing warhead ceilings by 30 percent over the next 10 years from the current 2,200 to 1,550. Each side is limited to 700 deployed long-range missiles and heavy bombers.
The Brandenburg Gate speech on Wednesday was the highlight of his Germany visit, 50 years after John F. Kennedy made the famous "Ich bin ein Berliner" address at the same site.
Obama's speech was greeted by cheers from the audience. However, the 5,000-odd invited guests paled in comparison to the estimated 200,000 people who listened to Obama's speech at the Victory Column in central Berlin during his presidential election campaign in 2008.
In Wednesday's wide-ranging foreign policy speech, Obama pledged that the United States would redouble efforts to close Guantanamo Bay prison in Cuba and tackle the threat of climate change.
