CRI听力:Obama Announces New Plans to Cut Nukes

U.S. President Barack Obama has put forward new plans to further cut Russian and American nuclear capabilities.

"After a comprehensive review I've 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, and I intend to seek negotiated cuts with Russia to move beyond Cold War nuclear postures."

If this plan is put in to action, both the US and Russia could be reduced to just over a thousand nuclear warheads each.

The last nuclear arms treaty between the two countries forces a reduction in stockpiles from both sides.

However, just before Obama's speech in Berlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that there were other factors which have to be considered as well.

"We must take into account the realities of the day, we cannot allow the strategic deterrence system to be upset or the effectiveness of our nuclear forces to be decreased."

Russia also says it's been made aware of the request for new nuclear talks, but it says other countries with nuclear weapons should also be included in that process.