Prague, Dec 1 (CTK) – U.S. President Barack Obama has failed to markedly progress towards achieving a world free of nuclear weapons, an idea he mentioned in a Prague speech at the beginning of his presidency in 2009, Angela Kane, former head of the U.N. programme for disarmament, said at a conference in Prague on Thursday.
She said the world is not enough interested in reducing the role of nuclear arsenals.
In his Prague speech, Obama said nuclear weapons are the most dangerous legacy of the Cold War, and he promised to push for a world free of these weapons.
It is clear that Obama’s Prague agenda has lost its strength and importance. Its drive has faded away and the hope for any progress has shrunk to a minimum, Kane said.
She said Obama failed to use the opportunity to negotiate about a reduction of nuclear arsenals with all nuclear powers. He only signed an agreement with Russia, which other countries did not join.
Nor did Obama restrict nuclear weapons’ significant role in the U.S. defence strategy, because he left the possibility of the U.S. using nuclear weapons as first a part of the military doctrine, Kane said.
She said it cannot be said how much the new U.S. administration of Donald Trump will be pushing for a reduction of nuclear arsenals.
It is clearly palpable in the world that most countries want nuclear disarmament, she said.
Sixty countries have called for signing a new international treaty that would ban nuclear weapons. However, neither the USA nor Russia nor most European members of NATO have agreed with the proposal, Kane said.
These countries must change their approach, if the world were to progress towards nuclear disarmament. Big nuclear powers must cease to turn a blind eye to the growing frustration caused by their failure to keep their promises to reduce the role and numbers of nuclear weapons and the risks these weapons pose, Kane said.
