[h=3]By WILLIAM BOSTON[/h]
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesPresident Barack Obama speaking in front of Berlin's Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday.
BERLIN—U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for launching negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the two nations' Cold War military posturing, and a substantial reduction of nuclear arms.
"After a comprehensive review I have determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one third," Mr. Obama said in a wide-ranging foreign policy speech at the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the Cold War and one of Berlin's most historic landmarks.
"I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," he said.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesU.S. President Barack Obama waves next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel before they deliver speeches in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Wednesday.
Speaking to a gathering of 6,000 invited guests on the sun-drenched Paris Square, Mr. Obama raised the importance of containing the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea and pledged to secure U.S. ratification of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. He appealed to all nations to begin negotiations to establish a treaty that ends the production of fissile materials used to make nuclear weapons.
"These are steps we can take to create a world of peace with justice," he said.
Mr. Obama also vowed to more aggressively pursue policies to ward off the threat of climate change, acknowledging that "Germany and Europe have led" the battle.
"Our dangerous carbon emissions have come down, but we know we have to do more—and we will do more," he said to a cheering crowd. "Our generation must move towards a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late, that is our job, that is our task."
Earlier Wednesday, he said that the U.S. wasn't preparing to go to war in Syria and welcomed support from a summit of world leaders this week to pursue a political transition in the country and end the bloody civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Mr. Obama said reports that the Washington was laying the groundwork for a military intervention to oust Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad were "a little overcranked" and emphasized that the U.S. is determined to find a political solution to the civil war in Syria. But he stressed that a peaceful solution could only come with a new government.
"Without a different government, you can't bring peace," Mr. Obama said during a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, following a two-day summit in Northern Ireland of leaders from the Group of Eight leading industrial nations.
After the news conference, Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel retired for lunch in the chancellery.
The G-8 reaffirmed its commitment to create a transitional government in Syria, but was divided over the question of chemical weapons. Russia, a staunch ally of Mr. Assad, insists that Damascus hasn't used chemical weapons.
"The good news from the G-8 meeting was that we saw all the countries including Russia reaffirm the communiqué that said to create a transitional governing body with full powers," Mr. Obama said. "All countries—including Russia—said we have to investigate the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria by all parties, including the government."
Mr. Obama recently abandoned his opposition to providing lethal aid to Syrian rebels after becoming convinced that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons.
While Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel agreed on the need for a change of government in Damascus, the German leader ruled out ruled out providing weapons for rebel fighters.
"Germany has very clear rules, legal rules, that we don't deliver arms to countries in sectarian conflict…. That doesn't mean we can't play a constructive role…in the humanitarian process," she said.
Mr. Obama is in Berlin for his first official visit to the German capital since taking office five years ago. The president remains popular with Germans, but their infatuation with him has cooled since his last visit to the city in 2008, when as a young senator campaigning for the presidency with a promise of change he electrified a crowd of 200,000 in Berlin's Tiergarten park. Disillusionment with him has grown over deadly drone attacks in Afghanistan, his failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and recent revelations about the U.S. National Security Agency's Internet surveillance program Prism.
A new poll in the weekly magazine Stern showed that 64% of Germans questioned believe that Mr. Obama has improved the German-American relationship. Snap polls on Germany's all-news channel N-TV Wednesday showed that more than 90% of those surveyed say that Mr. Obama is doing a good job. But privacy-obsessed Germans were alarmed to learn that U.S. intelligence services may be snooping on their phone calls and email.
In a lengthy response to questions about Prism from German reporters, Mr. Obama defended the program at length, saying that the U.S. was determined to strike a balance between protecting civil rights and protecting lives. He said any surveillance is being monitored by the courts and is only begun based on specific leads linked to terror threats.
"This is not a situation where we are rifling though he ordinary emails of German citizens or American citizens or French citizens or anyone else," he said. "We know of at least 50 threats which have been averted…in some cases in Germany, so lives have been saved and the encroachment has been strictly limited by a court approved process."
—Harriet Torry contributed to this articleWrite to William Boston at [email protected]
BERLIN—U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday called for launching negotiations with Russia aimed at ending the two nations' Cold War military posturing, and a substantial reduction of nuclear arms.
"After a comprehensive review I have determined that we can ensure the security of America and our allies, and maintain a strong and credible strategic deterrent, while reducing our deployed strategic nuclear weapons by up to one third," Mr. Obama said in a wide-ranging foreign policy speech at the Brandenburg Gate, a symbol of the Cold War and one of Berlin's most historic landmarks.
"I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures," he said.
Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesU.S. President Barack Obama waves next to German Chancellor Angela Merkel before they deliver speeches in front of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Wednesday.
Speaking to a gathering of 6,000 invited guests on the sun-drenched Paris Square, Mr. Obama raised the importance of containing the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea and pledged to secure U.S. ratification of a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. He appealed to all nations to begin negotiations to establish a treaty that ends the production of fissile materials used to make nuclear weapons.
"These are steps we can take to create a world of peace with justice," he said.
Mr. Obama also vowed to more aggressively pursue policies to ward off the threat of climate change, acknowledging that "Germany and Europe have led" the battle.
"Our dangerous carbon emissions have come down, but we know we have to do more—and we will do more," he said to a cheering crowd. "Our generation must move towards a global compact to confront a changing climate before it is too late, that is our job, that is our task."
Earlier Wednesday, he said that the U.S. wasn't preparing to go to war in Syria and welcomed support from a summit of world leaders this week to pursue a political transition in the country and end the bloody civil war that has claimed tens of thousands of lives.
Mr. Obama said reports that the Washington was laying the groundwork for a military intervention to oust Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad were "a little overcranked" and emphasized that the U.S. is determined to find a political solution to the civil war in Syria. But he stressed that a peaceful solution could only come with a new government.
"Without a different government, you can't bring peace," Mr. Obama said during a news conference after talks with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, following a two-day summit in Northern Ireland of leaders from the Group of Eight leading industrial nations.
After the news conference, Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel retired for lunch in the chancellery.
The G-8 reaffirmed its commitment to create a transitional government in Syria, but was divided over the question of chemical weapons. Russia, a staunch ally of Mr. Assad, insists that Damascus hasn't used chemical weapons.
"The good news from the G-8 meeting was that we saw all the countries including Russia reaffirm the communiqué that said to create a transitional governing body with full powers," Mr. Obama said. "All countries—including Russia—said we have to investigate the use of chemical weapons inside of Syria by all parties, including the government."
Mr. Obama recently abandoned his opposition to providing lethal aid to Syrian rebels after becoming convinced that the Syrian government had used chemical weapons.
While Mr. Obama and Ms. Merkel agreed on the need for a change of government in Damascus, the German leader ruled out ruled out providing weapons for rebel fighters.
"Germany has very clear rules, legal rules, that we don't deliver arms to countries in sectarian conflict…. That doesn't mean we can't play a constructive role…in the humanitarian process," she said.
Mr. Obama is in Berlin for his first official visit to the German capital since taking office five years ago. The president remains popular with Germans, but their infatuation with him has cooled since his last visit to the city in 2008, when as a young senator campaigning for the presidency with a promise of change he electrified a crowd of 200,000 in Berlin's Tiergarten park. Disillusionment with him has grown over deadly drone attacks in Afghanistan, his failure to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, and recent revelations about the U.S. National Security Agency's Internet surveillance program Prism.
A new poll in the weekly magazine Stern showed that 64% of Germans questioned believe that Mr. Obama has improved the German-American relationship. Snap polls on Germany's all-news channel N-TV Wednesday showed that more than 90% of those surveyed say that Mr. Obama is doing a good job. But privacy-obsessed Germans were alarmed to learn that U.S. intelligence services may be snooping on their phone calls and email.
In a lengthy response to questions about Prism from German reporters, Mr. Obama defended the program at length, saying that the U.S. was determined to strike a balance between protecting civil rights and protecting lives. He said any surveillance is being monitored by the courts and is only begun based on specific leads linked to terror threats.
"This is not a situation where we are rifling though he ordinary emails of German citizens or American citizens or French citizens or anyone else," he said. "We know of at least 50 threats which have been averted…in some cases in Germany, so lives have been saved and the encroachment has been strictly limited by a court approved process."
—Harriet Torry contributed to this articleWrite to William Boston at [email protected]