What are depleted uranium munitions and why is US sending them to Ukraine?

Washington defends transfer of depleted uranium munitions amid criticism from Moscow and concerns over their effects.

But Russia has lambasted the US, with the Russian embassy in Washington denouncing the Biden administration’s move as “an indicator of inhumanity” that will cause “indiscriminate effects”. 

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9/7/what-are-depleted-uranium-munitions-and-why-is-us-sending-them-to-ukraine

US leadership in non-proliferation ...

US leadership in non-proliferation

The recent nuclear-related moves of the Obama administration have generated no small amount of controversy and confusion among various politically-motivated observers in the US. 

To the US president's most virulent detractors, the various aspects of the Obama nuclear policy now coming into focus constitute an all-too-characteristic combination of grandiosity, hypocrisy, naiveté and fraud.

Response as deterrence

Far from being pleased at the ostentatious exclusion of Iran and North Korea from the benefits of US nuclear forbearance, however, the president's mostly right-wing detractors are livid over his having introduced any such doctrine, no matter how limited. They claim that this is a feckless undermining of the studied ambiguity of response which they claim is a necessary underpinning of the whole concept of deterrence.

http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/04/201041961420950471.html

US President Barack Obama warns of nuclear terrorism President B...

US President Barack Obama warns of nuclear terrorism

President Barack Obama has said the biggest threat to US security is the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Speaking on the eve of a nuclear security summit in Washington, he said leaders from 40 states should focus on how to secure nuclear material.

He said groups like al-Qaeda would not hesitate to use nuclear devices. 

"The single biggest threat to US security, both short-term, medium-term and long-term, would be the possibility of a terrorist organisation obtaining a nuclear weapon," Mr Obama said.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/8614695.stm

 Obama opens nuclear summit

Barack Obama has opened a meeting of the world's major nuclear powers in Washington, in what the US president has heralded as the first concerted effort to confront the threat of nuclear material falling into the wrong hands.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2010/04/201041342246497384.html

US and Russia sign nuclear pact Barack Obama, the US president, and Dmitry Me...

US and Russia sign nuclear pact

Barack Obama, the US president, and Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, have signed a landmark nuclear disarmament treaty in Prague, Czech Republic.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2010/04/20104810456404804.html

US and Russian leaders hail nuclear arms treaty

If ratified by lawmakers in both countries, the treaty will replace the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) of 1991, which has expired.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8607985.stm

Analysis: Treaty focuses on a threat from the past

That is why President Barack Obama is convening on Monday an extraordinary assembly of world leaders to seek a common strategy for keeping radioactive materials and nuclear components out of the hands of terrorists. His goal is to secure all vulnerable nuclear material around the world within four years.

The New START treaty, which replaces the expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty of 1991, doesn't deal more than indirectly with another of today's big risks: the spread of nuclear know-how to hostile states like Iran, North Korea and perhaps others that might feel compelled to go nuclear, if only in self-defense. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/09/AR2010040900882.html

Obama to announce new nuclear defence strategy Barack Obama is set to annou...

Obama to announce new nuclear defence strategy

Barack Obama is set to announce a new defence strategy that would reduce the circumstances in which the US would be prepared to use nuclear weapons.

It would rule out a nuclear response to attacks on the US involving biological, chemical or conventional weapons.

Nor would the US use nuclear arms on non-nuclear states that comply with the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Mr Obama said he would make exceptions for states deemed in violation of the treaty, naming Iran and North Korea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8604217.stm

Washington aims to ratify new arms pact by yearend The United States is ai...

Washington aims to ratify new arms pact by yearend

The United States is aiming to get the new Russian-U.S. treaty on strategic weapons cuts ratified by the end of the year, a senior State Department official said.

"Our goal is to submit the treaty in the late spring and to seek ratification by the end of the year," Undersecretary for Arms Control Ellen Tauscher said.

Earlier, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that the new treaty on strategic offensive arms would be submitted for ratification in the Federation Council and State Duma shortly after its signing.

Washington and Moscow announced last week that the agreement would be signed by presidents Dmitry Medvedev and Barack Obama in Prague on April 8.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20100330/158356224.html

United States and Russia reach nuclear-arms deal The United States and Russi...

United States and Russia reach nuclear-arms deal

The United States and Russia have reached a deal on their most extensive nuclear arms-control agreement in nearly two decades, the Kremlin announced Wednesday. The pact appeared to represent President Obama's first victory in his ambitious agenda to move toward a nuclear-free world. 

The new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) would replace a 1991 pact that expired in December. Experts called the new agreement the most significant arms-control accord since the 1993 signing of START II, which the Russians never ratified. 

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/03/24/AR2010032401535.html?hpid=topnews

 US and Russia agree nuclear deal

Barack Obama, the US president, and Dmitry Medvedev, his Russian counterpart, have finalised the terms of a new nuclear arms reduction agreement.

The two leaders approved the deal for a successor to the landmark Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start), which will cut the amount of missiles deployed by both countries by one third, following a telephone conversation on Friday.

Speaking from the White House, Obama said: "With this agreement, the United States and Russia, the two largest nuclear powers in the world, also send a clear signal that we intend to lead.

"By upholding our own commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, we strengthen our global efforts to stop the spread of these weapons, and to ensure that other nations meet their own responsibilities."

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/03/2010326144017201412.html