Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament

Irish CND welcomes historic weapons reduction agreement

The Irish Campaign of Nuclear Disarmament has warmly welcomed the announcement that Russia and the United States have agreed a new ten-year deal to cut the number of deployed nuclear warheads by almost one third. The new agreement will be signed on April 8 in Prague, and will commit both sides to reduce their arsenals of deployed nuclear weapons to a maximum of 1,550 each. The deal also entails cuts in launchers and an improved verification process on that in the START-1 Treaty, which expired in December 2009.

Irish CND chairperson, Dr David Hutchinson Edgar, welcomed the agreement, saying, "This agreement is an important step in the right direction, towards the ultimate goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, which both Presidents Obama and Medvedev have pledged to work towards. Presidents Obama and Medvedev are now sending an important signal that they are prepared to follow words with actions. Whatever strategic security importance these weapons may have had in the Cold War era has lost its relevance in today's world, and this deal represents a significant move towards consigning these most horrific weapons of mass destruction to history.

"It is appropriate that the two countries who between them possess about 95% of the world's nuclear arms take the lead in reducing their nuclear arsenals. We hope that other nuclear-armed states will follow suit. It is also vital that both Russia and the US remain committed to the trajectory of weapons reduction represented by this new agreement, and continue to work towards more the far-reaching goal of eventually ridding the world of the scourge of nuclear weapons. We will need many more steps like that taken today to reach that goal.

"The fact that this agreement will be signed less than a month before the start of the major five-yearly review of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty at the U.N. in New York in May will give significant impetus for progress at that conference. We can now look forward with renewed hope for positive outcomes from the Review Conference. As a neutral country with a strong track record on disarmament issues, we look forward to Ireland playing an important role at that conference."