Gro Harlem Brundtland: Pulling nuclear powers back from the brink
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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has elevated global nuclear tensions to a level not seen since the height of the Cold War. Absent any signs of responsible leadership from Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is incumbent on the leaders of other nuclear-armed countries to take practical and prompt action to de-escalate, counter immediate threats, and agree on common steps toward non-proliferation and eventual disarmament. The war in Ukraine, accompanied by Russia’s nuclear saber-rattling, has done serious damage to the decades-old taboo against the use of such weapons.
OSLO – Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has elevated global nuclear tensions to a level not seen since the height of the Cold War. Absent any signs of responsible leadership from Russian President Vladimir Putin, it is incumbent on the leaders of other nuclear-armed countries to take practical and prompt action to de-escalate, counter immediate threats, and agree on common steps toward non-proliferation and eventual disarmament.
In addition to opposing Russia’s illegal aggression against Ukraine, it is imperative that the U.S. increases pressure on the Kremlin to reverse its reckless exit from New START, which caps the number of deployable warheads and includes transparency and verification measures. It also remains critically important for all states to reaffirm the taboo against nuclear threats and to emphasize that any use of nuclear weapons by Russia will have serious consequences.
Heightened tensions over Ukraine exemplify the more fundamental issue: the lack of any sustained U.S.-Russia dialogue or mechanisms to reduce the risk of escalation, much less negotiate broader nuclear-arms reductions.
Even during the worst moments of the Cold War, however, the U.S. and NATO communicated with the Soviet Union on de-escalation and nuclear-risk reduction, which all parties recognized as being in everyone’s best interest. Today, the U.S. and its European allies must not block nuclear dialogue or set preconditions that preclude the resumption of non-proliferation and disarmament talks. Maintaining military and senior-level contacts should not be confused with legitimizing or minimizing Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
In the face of increasing and interconnected threats, a new approach is urgently needed. The existential risk posed by nuclear weapons should worry everyone, but only world leaders are in a position to mitigate it. The ultimate goal will always be total nuclear disarmament, but the first priority is to address the most serious immediate hazards.
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