President Obama's Message to the Global Zero Summit

To participants of the Global Zero Summit,

Although I’m unable to join you in person, I’m proud that my administration is represented at the Global Zero Summit by our Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, Ellen Tauscher. And I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for your tireless efforts to advance the vision we share – a world without nuclear weapons.

As President, this is one of my highest priorities. At Prague, I committed the United States to stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and to seeking a world without them. At the United Nations Security Council, we won passage of a historic resolution enshrining this as a shared commitment among nations. And I am proud that the United States and Russia are completing negotiations on a new START Treaty to dramatically reduce our nuclear arsenals.

But this is just a start. At our Nuclear Security Summit in April we will rally nations behind the goal of securing the world’s vulnerable nuclear materials in four years. We will strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and work with allies and partners to ensure that the rights and responsibilities of every nation are enforced. We will seek to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and negotiate a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty. And our Nuclear Posture Review will reduce role and number of nuclear weapons in our national security strategy.
Make no mistake, this will be hard. Progress will be neither quick nor easy. Rather than fixed deadlines, we will work toward reductions that are historic yet realistic, ambitious yet achievable. And as I’ve said, our ultimate goal may not be realized in our lifetimes.
Yet always remember this—when people of passion and goodwill refuse to accept the world as it is, when we see the world as it might yet become, then great change is inevitable.
As Global Zero works to build grassroots and public support, you will always have a partner in me and my administration. Together, we can make progress that leaves ours and future generations safer and more secure. Together, we can pursue the goal of a world without nuclear weapons.