In his State of the Nation Address tomorrow, the US President will call for the reduction of nuclear weapons, writes today's "New York Times".
The paper reminds that in the previous few months, Barack Obama already reached an agreement with US military circles to reduce the US nuclear capacity by a third.
The New York daily also writes that during his most important annual address to Congress, Obama will not state the numbers by which nuclear weapons should be reduced, but sources from the White House believe that something above a thousand nuclear warheads should remain.
At the moment, the USA has about 1.700 of them, and according to the reduction agreement with Russia, by 2018 there should be about 1.550
At the moment, the USA has about 1.700 of them, and according to the reduction agreement with Russia, by 2018 there should be about 1.550 of them.
However, a US official involved in the decision-making, cited by the newspaper, says that a radical reduction could be made, which would save a lot of money, without jeopardizing US security in the long run.
Since Obama knows that such a proposal is likely to face stiff opposition from Republicans in Congress, the New York Times writes that it could be avoided by reaching an informal agreement with Russian President Vladimir Putin on joint cuts under the new START program. which would not require congressional ratification.
Obama's national security adviser, Tom Donilon, intends to travel to Russia next month, in order to initiate talks on the subject, while Obama and Putin will hold two meetings at the beginning of the summer.
During his address to the nation tomorrow, Obama should also point out the threat of cyber attacks on US companies, financial institutions and particularly sensitive facilities such as power systems.
Gallery
Bonus video:
