As they look to reduce bilateral tensions, the United States and Russia could begin by issuing a joint presidential declaration that a nuclear war is unwinnable and must be avoided at all costs, former U.S. Sen. Sam Nunn (D-Ga.) and onetime top officials from three nations said this week in an open letter to Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin.
That declaration “would make clear again that leaders recognize their responsibility to work together to prevent nuclear catastrophe, and would be positively received by global leaders and publics,” according to the June 27 letter signed by Nunn, former British Defense Secretary Des Browne, former Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov, and former German Ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger.
Trump and Putin are due to meet for bilateral talks on the sidelines of the upcoming Group of 20 summit scheduled for July 7-8 in Hamburg, Germany. The two leaders have “a unique opportunity to underscore that, despite significant differences, the United States, Russia, and Europe can and must work together on areas of existential common interest – chief among them reducing nuclear and other military risks, and preventing catastrophic terrorist attacks,” according to the letter.
Among other recommendations to the presidents, Russia and the United States can establish a shared program to prevent acts of terrorism involving unconventional weapons and seek “at least informal understandings” on cyber threats to nuclear command and control and strategic warning systems.
From The Wires
From the United Nations: The second draft of the proposed Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
