Dear PNND Members,

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) negotiations presently taking place are part of a much larger disarmament process which must succeed. Russia and the US must both achieve significant cuts in their arsenals to be able to bring all states with nuclear weapons into substantive disarmament negotiations. The current treaty must generate further momentum and our support will help that happen.

It is widely believed that the remaining technical details will be worked out in the coming days, and that a replacement START will be announced shortly.

Parliamentary letters supporting current efforts to extend or replace START will be of immense value in Washington and Moscow.  

Widespread international support is crucial for two key reasons:

• The US and Russian administrations will need to obtain ratification for the agreement/treaty from their respective parliaments and such ratification is not assured.
• The degree of support for this agreement will determine the political viability for the next disarmament steps including further reductions in stockpile numbers and the start of multilateral negotiations.

We urge you to consider circulating such a letter throughout your parliament to gather signatures from across party lines, and send it as soon as agreement has been reached. A draft letter with suggested language is included below. Our sister program in Washington, the Bipartisan Security Group, is securing similar letters from Congressional representatives, and can assist in getting your letters to the two presidents and to their key congressional members.

If this suggested process is cumbersome, a personal letter from your office would also be of significant value. Your voice carries political weight and now is a good time to use it.

Yours sincerely,

Jonathan Granoff, PNND Council Member
President of the Global Security Institute

Rhianna Tyson Kreger, PNND Senior Officer

Kevin Davis, Program Associate, Bipartisan Security Group

Dear Presidents Obama and Medvedev,

Congratulations on reaching an agreement on further stockpile reductions and to extend the provisions of the Strategic Arms Reductions Treaty. These steps constitutes a vital element of our global non-proliferation regime and an important step towards achieving your vision of a world without nuclear weapons. Your progress in the bilateral sphere will undoubtedly serve well the upcoming negotiations at the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, where each of us has a vested interest in ensuring success.  Progress towards reducing your nuclear arsenals is a boon to our collective efforts to strengthen non-proliferation measures worldwide.

Sincerely,