WASHINGTON: Two dozen arms control advocates have urged President Joe Biden to use next month’s G7 summit in Hiroshima, which was hit by the first US atomic bombing of World War II, to reaffirm a US commitment to nuclear disarmament and readiness for arms control talks with Russia and China.
The advocates, including several former senior US arms control officials, made their appeal in a letter sent to Biden on Wednesday that has not been made public, but was reviewed by Reuters.
The May 19 to 21 summit in the Japanese city “creates a historic opportunity for you to acknowledge the horrors of nuclear war”, advance the goal of nuclear disarmament, and pledge “concrete steps to prevent a new arms race,” they wrote to Biden.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The appeal comes amid rising concerns over the suspension of New START, the last US-Russia nuclear arms limitation pact, China’s expanding nuclear stockpile and Tehran’s intensified uranium enrichment following the 2018 US repudiation of the 2015 Iran nuclear deal.
Source: CNA
