Days after signing a pact to reduce their atomic arsenal, the US and Russia on Tuesday launched a joint appeal to all nuclear-armed countries to build on the momentum created by their deal and join the disarmament process.
At the UN General Assembly's thematic debate on Disarmament and World Security, top diplomats from the United States and Russia called on other member-states to work towards the goal of disarmamnent and non-proliferation.
"We call on all states without exception, and first and foremost those that have nuclear arsenals, to join efforts with Russia and the United States in this field and to contribute actively to the disarmament process," Vitaly Churkin, the Russian envoy told the gathered delegation.
Susan Rice, US envoy to the UN, said: "We encourage all delegations to put aside dated arguments and build on today's momentum to make real progress on disarmament, nonproliferation, and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy".
The UN ambassadors of the former Cold War rivals made this appeal together, two weeks after their leaders, Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev, signed the "New START" treaty that would reduce their arsenals by one-third that will take the countries warheads down from 2,200 to 1,550 each, over seven years.
"The signing of this treaty is a major milestone for nuclear security and nonproliferation, delivering on President Obama's pledge a year ago to take concrete steps towards a world without nuclear weapons," Rice said.
"Our joint appearance here today is a sign of the much strengthened relationship between our two nations a relationship built on candour, cooperation and mutual respect," she added. The Russian ambassador also described the signing of the treaty between Obama and Medvedev as a "milestone".
"The signing of the Treaty heralds the transition to a higher level of cooperation between Russia and the United States in disarmament and non-proliferation," Chrukin said.
He said this effort would lead to new military relations for promoting "mutual and global security".
Additionally the US in April, under the new Obama Nuclear Posture Review, has pledged not to use nuclear weapons against a non-nuclear weapons state that is party to the NPT and in compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.
"All nations must recognise that the non-proliferation regime is undermined if violators are allowed to act with impunity," Rice said, as an obvious swipe at Iran and North Korea.
Speaking at the day-long debate, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged nations to tilt the balance of their spending from weapons to development.
"The world is over-armed, and development is under-funded," Ban said. "Spending on weapons worldwide is now well above $ 1 trillion a year and rising".
"These priorities should be reversed. By accelerating disarmament, we can liberate the resources we need to combat climate change, address food insecurity and achieve the Millennium Development Goals," he added.
