UN chief hails US-Russia nuclear arsenal cuts as ‘important milestone’ to nuclear-free world

UN chief hails US-Russia nuclear arsenal cuts

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. chief is hailing the agreement between the United States and Russia to cut their nuclear arsenals as an “important milestone” on the road to a world free of nuclear weapons.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed hope that the new treaty will be ratified without delay and will be followed by additional measures to reduce and eliminate all nuclear weapons.

Ban said in a statement Friday that he believes the agreement will add “a significant impetus” to the U.N. conference in May to review the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Earlier Friday, President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to reduce their arsenals of long-range nuclear weapons by about a third.