Dear Friend --



It’s been a busy few days here at ICAN. Last week we exposed <[link removed]> global nuclear weapons spending and launched an in-depth report <[link removed]> about NATO and the nuclear ban ahead of their summit this Monday. Now, as I write to you, Presidents Biden and Putin are meeting in our city, Geneva, and we expect nuclear weapons will be a major item on the agenda.



It couldn’t be more urgent. Russia and the United States have 90% of the world’s nuclear warheads. The UN has warned that the risk of nuclear weapons use is higher than ever. The nine nuclear-armed states are spending more than ever on their arsenals, going so far as to increase their nuclear weapons budgets by $1.4 billion in 2020, during a global pandemic.



This summit could be a chance for both presidents to start a process to pull us back from this very dangerous position we are in right now. They have a unique opportunity to make real progress towards nuclear disarmament and joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which entered into force on 22 January this year. And what better place to do so than Geneva, the city of multilateralism and peace. The city where Reagan and Gorbachev’s 1985 summit contributed to a turning point in the Cold War, and which led to significant reductions in global nuclear arsenals. And, of course, a city that proudly supports the TPNW <[link removed]>!







Let’s make sure that the conversation around this summit - on social media and traditional media - brings home the point that nuclear weapons are unacceptable and have to go! Here are three things you can do:



- Read and share this interview with Reuters <[link removed]>

- Tune in to France24 <[link removed]>, where I will be joining the live coverage at 19:10  CEST tonight

- Join us on Twitter Spaces <[link removed]> tomorrow at 16:15 CEST as I catch up with our Brussels Liaison Leo-Axthelm Hoffman and Richard Lennane, author of our latest report to discuss what came out of these two summits, and what’s next.



Thank you,



Beatrice Fihn

Executive Director

ICAN 



It’s time to end nuclear weapons.



Support ICAN’s work <[link removed]>







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