Members of the Younger
Generation Leadership Network on Euro-Atlantic Security
(YGLN), including NTI Program Officer Leon Ratz, today published an open letter
to Presidents Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin urging the two leaders to
preserve the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF)
Treaty and extend New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty).
“We are writing to you because we are gravely concerned by the
possible collapse of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and
urge you to preserve the agreement, resolve compliance issues, and work to protect
the nuclear arms control infrastructure that has underpinned global security
for decades,” the letter said. “It is that security that allowed our generation
to move past the constant fear of nuclear war. We now believe that security is
at risk.” The group also called on the presidents to initiate a dialogue on
strategic stability and to re-affirm Ronald Reagan’s statement that “a nuclear
war cannot be won and must never be fought.”
Read the full text of the YGLN letter here.