by Inter Press Service / Mikhail Gorbachev

MOSCOW - One of the most urgent problems of today's world is the danger of nuclear weapons. The unexpected nuclear test by North Korea on May 25 and its test-firing of a series of short-range missiles is the latest, frightening reminder.

MEDIA STATEMENT:

The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons welcomes news from Washington that Australian-initiated talks on nuclear disarmament are being met with strong support from the United States. 

The international community must wake up to the threat of nuclear weapons proliferation, the Australian chairman of a new disarmament body says.

"The scale of the havoc and the devastation that can be wreaked by one major nuclear weapon alone puts 9/11 and almost everything else into the category of insignificance." - Gareth Evans.

The next President of the United States has an awesome responsibility for the security of the entire world. He (or potentially she) can either lead us toward the global elimination of nuclear weapons, or he can continue to claim that they are essential for US security and ensure their almost inevitable use-whether deliberately or through tragic error.

Some of Britain's most influential statesmen including former foreign secretaries and a NATO secretary-general have backed the call by former US secretaries of state George Shultz and Henry Kissinger for nuclear weapons abolition.

73% of Americans and 63% of Russians polled favour "all countries agreeing to eliminate all of their nuclear weapons assuming that there is a well-established international system for verifying that countries are complying".

Those who continue to think that only left-leaning politicians and NGO's advocate the abolition of nuclear weapons might be surprised to learn that two prominent Americans with impeccable conservative credentials have called for just that.

More here.