Gorbachev accused Blair of violating the agreement on non -proliferation of nuclear weapons

Former USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev expressed concern about the intentions of the government of Tony Blair to replace the nuclear arsenal of Great Britain with a new generation of nuclear weapons. This decision was made by London in conditions when the process of nuclear disarmament actually stopped, the last Soviet leader in the article for the British The Times (full text is on the website inopressa.ru ).

Gorbachev recalls that a few days ago the head of the IAEA Mohammed al-Baradei said that the agency was not able to vouch for the lack of secret nuclear programs in 30 countries that did not sign the relevant agreements.

The intention of the British government to deploy nuclear missiles that will last until 2050, do not comply with the obligations to take effective measures for nuclear disarmament, which the UK took upon itself by signing an agreement on non -proliferation of nuclear weapons, Gorbachev writes. He emphasizes that the entire structure of the contract is based on these obligations, "which has already been in a serious danger."

According to the former head of the USSR, thanks to the Soviet-American agreements on a reduction in nuclear weapons, the nuclear arsenals are currently reduced by almost two-thirds. He recalled that London declared his readiness to participate in reducing nuclear weapons.

“Whatever technical measures are taken to ensure that nuclear weapons fall into the hands of terrorists and criminal elements, so that it is not used as a result of a technical problem or an accident, such an opportunity will exist while there is a nuclear weapon,” Gorbachev writes.

He called on the government of Tony Blair to “act responsibly” and postpone the decision on nuclear re -equipment “at least until the next conference on the consideration of the agreement on the non -proliferation scheduled for 2010”.

Recall that the bill dedicated to the renewal of the strategic nuclear arsenal was submitted by the government in December last year . The document offers the replacement of the new generation submarines located in the Vanguard -type rocket carriers. This will also be required to develop a new missile system in return for the current Trident II D5 Development Complex of the 70-80s of the XX century.

The cost of the update is at least 30 billion pounds (over 50 billion dollars). Since the project is very expensive, the nuclear arsenal is planned to be reduced by 20%. Thus, instead of four missile carriers, only three submarines will be in the fleet.