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Obama calls for US-Russia nuclear weapons cuts in Berlin speech Obama in Berlin calls for US-Russia nuclear weapons cuts
(35 minutes later)
US President Barack Obama has used his public speech in Berlin to propose cuts of one-third in American and Russian nuclear arsenals.US President Barack Obama has used his public speech in Berlin to propose cuts of one-third in American and Russian nuclear arsenals.
The president also called for reductions in the number of tactical warheads deployed in Europe. Speaking at the Brandenburg Gate he called for reductions in the number of tactical warheads deployed in Europe.
Earlier, he met Chancellor Angela Merkel, who criticised the broad scope of the US Prism surveillance programme. He also pledged to boost efforts to close the Guantanamo Bay detention centre and tackle climate change.
Mr Obama's visit comes after G8 leaders backed calls for holding Syrian peace talks in Geneva "as soon as possible". Earlier, he met Chancellor Angela Merkel, who criticised the broad scope of US surveillance programmes.
This is Mr Obama's first visit to Berlin as American president.This is Mr Obama's first visit to Berlin as American president.
His address to students and government officials at the Brandenburg Gate comes almost 50 years after John F Kennedy's celebrated "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech. His address to students and government officials at the Brandenburg Gate, which once divided East and West Germany, comes almost 50 years after President John F Kennedy's celebrated "Ich bin ein Berliner" speech.
He said the Brandenburg Gate, which once divided East and West Germany, was a symbol that "no wall can stand against the yearnings for justice... that burns in the human heart". In a speech which centred on a theme of freedoms, Mr Obama said the gate was a symbol that "no wall can stand against the yearnings for justice... that burn in the human heart".
As he began his speech he took off his jacket, telling the crowds who had been waiting in the 33C heat for several hours: "We can be a little more informal among friends." "Today's threats are not as stark as they were half a century ago, but the struggle for freedom and security and human dignity, that struggle goes on," he said.
Mr Obama used his speech to announce that he had determined the US was able to ensure the security of itself and its allies and maintain a credible deterrence by reducing its nuclear weapons by a third from the levels agreed in the New Start treaty in 2010. "We may no longer live in fear of global annihilation but so long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe," calling for intensified efforts to limit their spread.
Under New Start, each side is allowed a maximum of 1,550 warheads and no more than 700 deployed launchers. He said he had determined that the US could ensure its own and its allies security and maintain a credible deterrent "while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one third".
"I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," he said.
Under the New Start treaty which the US signed with Russia in 2010, each side is allowed a maximum of 1,550 warheads and no more than 700 deployed launchers.
The new limit on delivery systems is less than half the ceiling of 1,600 specified in the original Start treaty from 1991.The new limit on delivery systems is less than half the ceiling of 1,600 specified in the original Start treaty from 1991.
"We intend to work with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear posturing", he said, adding that the US would also work alongside Nato allies to seek "bold reductions" in the use of tactical weapons in Europe. Mr Obama added that the US would also work alongside Nato allies to seek "bold reductions" in the use of tactical weapons in Europe, and would also seek to forge a new international framework for the use of peaceful nuclear power.
The US would also seek to forge a new international framework for the use of peaceful nuclear power, he said, and rejected the nuclearisation of countries like North Korea and Iran. He said the US rejected the nuclearisation of countries like North Korea and Iran.
Shortly before Mr Obama spoke, the senior foreign policy adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin said other nuclear-armed countries would have also have to reduce their stockpiles for such a plan to work. Shortly before Mr Obama spoke, Russian President Vladimir Putin was quoted as saying that Moscow "cannot allow the balance of the system of strategic deterrence to be disturbed or the effectiveness of our nuclear force to be decreased".
A senior foreign policy adviser to Mr Putin said other nuclear-armed countries would have also have to reduce their stockpiles for such a plan to work.
"The situation now is not like in the 1960s and 1970s when only the United States and the Soviet Union held talks on reducing nuclear arms," Yury Ushakov told a briefing in Moscow."The situation now is not like in the 1960s and 1970s when only the United States and the Soviet Union held talks on reducing nuclear arms," Yury Ushakov told a briefing in Moscow.
"Now we need to look more broadly... and increase the circle of participants in possible contacts on this matter.""Now we need to look more broadly... and increase the circle of participants in possible contacts on this matter."
'Proportionality''Proportionality'
In her morning meetings with the president, Mrs Merkel criticised US phone and internet surveillance programmes, saying: "We do see the need for gathering information, but there is a need for due diligence and proportionality." Mr Obama said that for the US, moving beyond the Cold War "mindset of perpetual war" also meant redoubling efforts to close the US prison camp at Guantanamo, tightly controlling the use of new technology like drones and "balancing the pursuit of security with the protection of privacy".
In her morning meetings with Mr Obama, Mrs Merkel had criticised Prism, the recently exposed US phone and internet surveillance programmes, saying: "We do see the need for gathering information, but there is a need for due diligence and proportionality."
The chancellor grew up in Communist East Germany, where police surveillance was widespread.The chancellor grew up in Communist East Germany, where police surveillance was widespread.
She acknowledged that the internet "enables enemies of a free liberal order to use and abuse and bring threats to all of us", but "an equitable balance must be struck".She acknowledged that the internet "enables enemies of a free liberal order to use and abuse and bring threats to all of us", but "an equitable balance must be struck".
Mr Obama said the monitoring applied within narrow limits to do with national security. It had detected 50 potential threats and saved many lives, he emphasised.Mr Obama said the monitoring applied within narrow limits to do with national security. It had detected 50 potential threats and saved many lives, he emphasised.
"This is not a situation where we simply go into the internet and begin searching any way we want," he told a news conference in Berlin."This is not a situation where we simply go into the internet and begin searching any way we want," he told a news conference in Berlin.
Speaking about the Syrian conflict, Mr Obama said the US was confident that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons during the 26-month-old conflict, but refused to spell out what aid might go the rebels. Mr Obama's visit comes after G8 leaders backed calls for holding Syrian peace talks in Geneva "as soon as possible".
Speaking earlier, Mr Obama said the US was confident that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons during the 26-month-old conflict, but refused to spell out what aid might go the rebels.
"I cannot and will not comment on specifics on our programmes related to the Syrian opposition," he said, stressing his support for a political transition."I cannot and will not comment on specifics on our programmes related to the Syrian opposition," he said, stressing his support for a political transition.