Oakland, CA - Today, as President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev met for the first time, the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World applauded their embrace of arms control measures and pragmatic steps for nuclear arms reductions.

"A nuclear weapons free world is a safer world," said Cara Bautista, Coordinator for the Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World. "The risks presented by bloated US and Russian arsenals are high, and the two presidents' commitment today to achieving a nuclear free world is significant. Congress should work with President Obama to ensure progress toward this goal."

US and Russian stockpiles currently account for 95 percent of the world's nuclear weapons. Under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, nuclear weapons states are obligated to work toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.

"There are more than 20,000 nuclear weapons in the world today, increasing the risk of accidents or theft. We support President Obama and President Medvedev's commitment to work together and hope that the final agreement achieves measurable, verifiable, and irreversible reductions down to 1,000 or fewer nuclear weapons for each country," stated Ms. Bautista. "Deep reductions by the US and Russia would send a strong signal to the rest of the world that now is the time to address the threat posed by nuclear weapons."

A 2008 World Public Opinion survey indicates that a majority of Americans would support such a goal. According to the poll, 73 percent of Americans favor the elimination of nuclear weapons, and 79 percent believe the US government should do more to achieve this end.

The joint statement by Obama and Medvedev also contained commitments to work on other positive steps to strengthen the nuclear nonproliferation regime. These steps include: negotiations for a verifiable treaty to end the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons, preventing nuclear terrorism, and US ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

"Ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by the US would provide real security benefits," Ms. Bautista said. "A worldwide ban on nuclear weapons testing would help nonproliferation efforts by preventing nuclear weapons possessing states from fielding newer, deadlier warheads and impeding the emergence of new nuclear-weapons states."

Over 140 nations have ratified the CTBT. The United States has signed but not ratified the treaty, observing a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1992.

###

The Campaign for a Nuclear Weapons Free World is a consortium of more than 100 organizations promoting practical steps today to free the world from nuclear weapons tomorrow. For more information, visit www.nuclearweaponsfree.org.