WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — Either the United States or Russia could unilaterally reduce its nuclear arsenal without suffering security consequences, Ploughshares Fund President, Joe Cirincione told Sputnik on Thursday.
"We could safely reduce our nuclear forces by one-third, no matter what Russia does. I would add, Russia could do the same," Cirincione said.
Cirincione, who heads the disarmament and nuclear security Ploughshares Fund, argued that both the United States and Russia still have an overkill of nuclear weapons, despite the parties agreeing to further reduce deployed strategic arms to 1,550 by February 2018.
"There is simply no military need for these Cold War arsenals anymore," he emphasized.
Under the US-Russia New START strategic arms reduction treaty, the level of deployed nuclear weapons worldwide would have dropped 80 percent from their Cold War height. Historically, Washington and Moscow have focused on nuclear parity, with neither side seriously considering acting alone.
The Ploughshares Fund is a global security foundation that develops and invests in initiatives to reduce and ultimately eliminate the world's nuclear stockpiles as well as to promote stability in regions of conflict where nuclear weapons exist, according to its website.
