The United States plans to revive diplomatic efforts next year to halt production of weapons-grade plutonium and uranium, a special adviser to President Barack Obama told a German newspaper. In an interview with the Sueddeutsche Zeitung published on Tuesday, Gary Samore, White House co-ordinator for arms control, said he believed North Korea was not interested in provoking a war with the South and only wished to take advantage of its tactical military advantage.
"Regarding the Fissile Material cut-off Treaty (FMCT), we are trying to reinstate negotiations at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and will launch an initiative next year," he told the newspaper. "Even if we succeed, however, it will take years until the negotiations are completed. The same goes for any further disarmament deals with Russia," he continued, adding that the political realities by then could be completely different. Samore expected the US administration to submit the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to the Senate next year for ratification, but he refrained from giving a forecast on the outcome of a vote. Assuming the US signed the accord, he said he believed enough political pressure could be put on India and Pakistan to join other nuclear powers in ratifying the treaty.
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