As today’s statements from Presidents Obama and Medvedev demonstrate, an unprecedented international consensus and commitment has been reached for achieving the total and verified elimination of all nuclear weapons worldwide. This is an idea whose time has come – now the question is no longer whether we should pursue this goal, but how we can achieve it. More than 200 military and political leaders and experts from around the world are here in Paris to drive forward the Global Zero initiative. During the next 48 hours, building on the year-long work of the international Global Zero Commission, these leaders will finalize their recommendations for immediate next steps to be taken by both nuclear and non-nuclear armed nations and will issue a groundbreaking, international call to action.
Statement from President Barack Obama
Global Zero Summit, Paris 2-4 February, 2010
To participants of the Global Zero Summit,
Although I’m unable to join you in person, I’m proud that my administration is represented at the Global Zero Summit by our Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Ellen Tauscher. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your tireless efforts to advance the vision we share – a world without nuclear weapons.
As President, this is one of my highest priorities. At Prague, I committed the United States to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and to seeking a world without them. At the United Nations Security Council, we won passage of a historic resolution enshrining this as a shared commitment among nations. And I am proud that the United States and Russia are completing negotiations on a new START Treaty to dramatically reduce our nuclear arsenals.
But this is just a start. At our Nuclear Security Summit in April we will rally nations behind the goal of securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. We will strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and work with allies and partners to ensure that the rights and responsibilities of every nation are enforced. We will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. And our Nuclear Posture Review will reduce role and number of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy. Make no mistake, this will be hard. Progress will be neither quick nor easy. Rather than fixed deadlines, we will work toward reductions that are historic yet realistic, ambitious yet achievable. And as I’ve said, our ultimate goal may not be realized in our lifetimes.
Yet always remember this—when people of passion and goodwill refuse to accept the world as it is, when we see the world as it might yet become, then great change is inevitable. As Global Zero works to build grassroots and public support, you will always have a partner in me and my administration. Together, we can make progress that leaves ours and future generations safer and more secure. Together, we can pursue the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.
President Barack Obama
Statement from President Dmitry Medvedev
Global Zero Summit, Paris 2-4 February, 2010
To The Global Zero Summit participants
I extend my greetings to the organizers, participants and guests of your forum.
The end of the Cold War epoch and creation of an atmosphere of trust and partnership in the relations between leading world powers have opened a way to a joint quest for new forms of ensuring international security and stability. Today our common task consists in undertaking everything to make deadly weapons of mass destruction to become a thing of the past.
Russia makes a substantial contribution to the process of nuclear disarmament. Meeting the obligations under the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is one of our first foreign policy priorities. It is about a comprehensive long-term strategy of balanced and stage-by-stage reduction of nuclear arsenals under conditions of equal security for all.
Our country has chosen a contractual way to nuclear disarmament. Russia actively interacts with the USA in preparing a new, legally binding arrangement to replace START. We intend to make all necessary to ensure the success of these negotiations and to agree upon a meaningful and viable document which will give an additional impetus to disarmament process.
I am confident, that a productive dialogue and joint efforts of global community will help to achieve the major goal—to ensure a safe and sustainable future for our common planet.
I wish you interesting discussions and all the best.
President Dmitry Medvedev
Statement from Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Global Zero Summit, Paris 2-4 February, 2010
I send my best wishes to you all at the Global Zero Summit, and for all the work you are doing to make the world safer for our children and theirs. I believe that a world free of nuclear weapons is not only achievable, but one of the most important policy objectives of our times.
The road to get there will be long. There is much work to do. And no one country will walk the road alone. But together I am confident that we can tackle the risks from proliferation and ensure the security of nuclear materials, as well as address regional instability and the many political, technical and institutional challenges that need to be overcome. It will be difficult, but I am pledged to do what it takes to enable all countries to give up their nuclear weapons, verifiably and irreversibly.
The NPT Review Conference in May presents the world with a vital opportunity to refresh and reinvigorate the cornerstone of the non proliferation regime. We must seize it.
I wish you all a very successful meeting as you take forward this important work.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown
Statement from UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon
Global Zero Summit, Paris 2-4 February, 2010
I am delighted to add my voices to yours.
I send my very best wishes to all the experts, activists, students, and leaders who have come together to make this event possible.
Though the tragedy in Haiti has prevented me from joining you, I am with you in spirit.
You have my wholehearted support for your efforts to achieve global nuclear disarmament.
This goal has been a longstanding dream of mine. It is also a strategic priority for the United Nations. Nuclear weapons threaten our security. And every dollar spent on weapons is one less spent on schools, life-saving medicine, or research into more life-affirming technologies. I salute Global Zero for mobilizing so many people. You know that joined hands can achieve much more than clenched fists. You are proving that a small group of committed supporters can change the world.
There are encouraging signs that leaders are listening. The Russian Federation and United States are showing a renewed commitment to reach new agreements limiting nuclear weapons.
The Security Council summit last September has generated further momentum. Your efforts are a crucial part of this bigger picture. You are helping to create real public pressure for change. The summit on nuclear security in Washington is just two months away. The NPT review conference follows in May. There is a need for action at these sessions. Meaningful steps then move us forward.
To all of you in Paris… and to people everywhere yearning for a safer, better world, I say this:
Global Zero is not just a slogan -- it is a tangible goal that can and must be achieved.
A world free of nuclear weapons can be ours. Let us make it happen.
Secretary General Ban Ki-moon