Looking at the world's two major nuclear powers, the United States and Russia, it is important that the international community continue to exert influence in reducing and ultimately eliminating their nuclear arsenal. The USA has approximately 2,200 deployed nuclear weapons, a massive reduction on the number at the height of the Cold War of 32,000, while Russia has 1,800 deployed warheads. Behind the deployed numbers, Russia has a total of 10,000 nuclear weapons, while the USA has 8,000. Despite the progress made for several years in the post-Cold War era, these numbers remain remarkably high. Negotiating nuclear disarmament with Russia and the USA and ensuring it is a quid pro quo reduction should be facilitated by the international community. The resetting of US-Russian relations under the US President, Mr. Obama, appears to have stalled with the re-election of the Russian President, Mr. Putin. The European Union should play a role in ensuring a deterioration in relations does not lead to the sidelining of the nuclear disarmament agenda.

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