Esteemed President Joseph R. Biden,
Esteemed President Vladimir V. Putin,
As people of good will and staunch supporters of genuine nuclear arms control, we welcome your desire to meet together during your scheduled Summit in Geneva, Switzerland on June 16, 2021 to tackle some very important international and bilateral issues.
We believe that the upcoming encounter can help forestall the nuclear arms race that in recent years has acquired a very dangerous and alarming momentum which could lead to the extinction of humanity and other living creatures, flora and fauna.
Now is the time for you to act together, and boldly make a bilateral political commitment and a legally binding agreement to no first-use of nuclear weapons against each other’s country and citizens.
We share the recognition that nuclear arms control is not a simple snap solution, rather it requires very serious and direct multifaceted and comprehensive measures. These measures must be adopted by all nuclear-weapon states, in stages. Moving gradually to a nuclear-free world is the optimum goal shared by most people in the world. In the meantime, we are convinced that the great nuclear powers – the Russian Federation and the United States of America – can act rationally and expediently to create a bilateral political commitment and a legally binding agreement to no first-use of nuclear weapons against each other.
These two nuclear states, controlling the majority of nuclear strategic and tactical arsenals, might utilize a unique opportunity to lead genuine arms control in the world. Such a deep-seated and practical arrangement made initially by the Russian Federation and the United States could inspire all other nuclear-weapon states to make the same commitment. No first-use of nuclear weapons pledge will only be feasible when it has a universal nature.
Such a bold yet practical initiative would help the world community to greatly improve strategic stability all over the planet, and could avert the possibility of intensifying arms races in other domains, such as missile defense and hypersonic arms.
We appeal to your wisdom and rational statesmanship, and ask you to consider this idea very seriously, bearing in mind its future benefits and positive impact for our world.
Note: This Open Appeal is being circulated to and by as many peace organizations and individuals as possible. Please, circulate it widely. Thank you, from the People’s Summit.
May, 29, 2021