Annan hails agreement by US, Russia to drastically cut deployed nuclear weapons

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, today welcomed the agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation to substantially reduce their deployed nuclear weapon stocks over the next decade.

The United Nations Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, today welcomed the agreement between the United States and the Russian Federation to substantially reduce their nuclear weapon stocks over the next decade.

A statement released in New York by a spokesman for Mr. Annan said the Secretary-General hailed the announcement that the two nations have agreed to sign a treaty next week to dramatically cut their deployed strategic nuclear weapons by 2012.

The signature of the treaty in Moscow by Presidents Bush and Putin “will be a positive step in the direction of nuclear disarmament and contributes to the fulfillment of the obligations of the two countries as nuclear-weapon States under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),” the statement said.