Obama vows to pursue further nuclear cuts with Russia

U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Monday to pursue further nuclear arms cuts with Russia, urged China to follow suit and issued stern warnings to North Korea and Iran in their nuclear standoffs with the West.
   
Acknowledging the United States has more warheads than necessary, Obama held out the prospect of new reductions in the U.S. arsenal as he sought to rally world leaders for additional concrete steps against the threat of nuclear terrorism.
   
"We can already say with confidence that we have more nuclear weapons than we need," Obama told students at South Korea's Hankuk University a few hours before a global nuclear security summit opened in Seoul.
   
He pledged a new arms-control push with incoming Russian president Vladimir Putin when they meet in May. But any further reductions would face stiff election-year opposition from Republicans in Congress who already accuse him of weakening America's nuclear deterrent.
   
In Seoul, Obama made clear that he was committed to that notion, saying "those who deride our vision, who say that ours is an impossible goal that will be forever out of reach", were wrong.
    
Though Obama was vague on exactly how such a vision would be achieved, he voiced confidence the United States and Russia, which reached a landmark arms-control treaty in 2010, "can continue to make progress and reduce our nuclear stockpiles".
   
"I firmly believe that we can ensure the security of the United States and our allies, maintain a strong deterrent against any threat, and still pursue further reductions in our nuclear arsenal," he said.
   
But another arms accord with Moscow will be a tough sell to U.S. conservatives who say Obama has not moved fast enough to modernise the U.S. strategic arsenal, a pledge he made in return for Republican votes that helped ratify the START treaty.
       
Obama said he wanted to take arms control talks with the Russians to a new level. "Going forward, we'll continue to seek discussions with Russia on a step we have never taken before - reducing not only our strategic nuclear warheads, but also tactical weapons and warheads in reserve," he said.
   
With U.S. officials privately expressing concern about China's opaqueness over its growing nuclear weapons programme, Obama said he had urged the rising Asian power "to join us in a dialogue on nuclear issues, and that offer remains open".
   
Obama also used his speech to call on North Korea, which plans a long-range rocket launch next month, to curb its nuclear ambitions or face further international isolation.
   
Chinese President Hu Jintao indicated to Obama during a one-on-one meeting on Monday that he took the North Korean nuclear standoff very seriously and was registering his concern with Pyongyang, a senior White House aide said.

China is the secretive North's only major ally.
 
Obama says the destitute North could be hit with tighter sanctions if it goes ahead with the rocket launch, but experts doubt China will back another U.N. Security Council resolution against North Korea.
   
The North says the rocket will send a satellite into space, but South Korea and the United States say it is a ballistic missile test.
   
Earlier on Monday, Obama accused Iran of having taken the "path of denial, deceit and deception" in the past but said there was still time for a diplomatic solution and that Iran had to act with a sense of urgency.

"Time is short," Obama said, referring to the prospects of renewed negotiations between Iran and world powers. "Iran's leaders must understand that there is no escaping the choice before it."
 
Obama has urged Israel to hold off on any pre-emptive strikes on Iran's nuclear sites to give sanctions and diplomacy more time to work.
   
The U.S. president also met Russia's outgoing leader, Dmitry Medvedev, on the sidelines of the summit, with missile defence in Europe, Iran and the conflict in Syria topping their agenda.
   
Medvedev said he supported peace envoy Kofi Annan's mission to end fighting in Syria. Russia and China have shielded Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from U.N. Security Council condemnation by vetoing two resolutions over the bloodshed.
   
"We together with the U.S. president maintain that (Annan's mission) is a good way to reach at least an initial point of settlement and open the road for communication between various groups of society in Syria," he said.

Reuters