"We Will Not Use Nuclear Weapons Against Non-Nuclear Weapons States"

President Obama remarks after visiting Prague.

"First, and for the first time, preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism is now at the top of America’s nuclear agenda, which affirms the central importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. We have aligned our policies and proposed major funding increases for programs to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. Our nuclear security summit next week will be an opportunity for 47 nations to commit to specific steps to pursue the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear materials around the world within four years. And next month in New York, we will work with the wider world to strengthen the global non-proliferation regime to ensure that all nations uphold their responsibilities", said Obama.

On Wednesday Vice President, Joe Biden wrote in an op-ed piece for the Los Angeles Times supporting the president's "strategy".

"This new strategy, a sharp departure from previous Nuclear Posture Reviews released in 2001 and 1994, leaves Cold War thinking behind. It recognizes that the greatest threat to U.S. and global security is no longer a nuclear exchange between nations, but nuclear terrorism by extremists and the spread of nuclear weapons to an increasing number of states. From now on, decisions about the number of weapons we have and how they are deployed will take nonproliferation and counter-terrorism into account, rather than being solely based on the objective of stable deterrence.

In addition, President Obama stated:

"The United States is declaring that we will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states that are party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations."

"To stop the spread of nuclear weapons, prevent nuclear terrorism, and pursue the day when these weapons do not exist, we will work aggressively to advance every element of our comprehensive agenda—to reduce arsenals, to secure vulnerable nuclear materials, and to strengthen the NPT. These are the steps toward the more secure future that America seeks, and this is the work that we are advancing today."

"We've got to figure out a way to get these nuclear weapons out the hands of those to prevent these weapons from ever being used", said Congressman Jim Moran (D- VA) this morning on a local DC area radio station.

This morning president Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed a treaty cutting their nations' nuclear arsenals.  The treaty will cut strategic nuclear arsenals deployed by the former Cold War foes by 30 per cent within seven years.

The White House is planning to make portions of the Treaty available for viewing to the public later today.

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