Contact: Juan Michel, World Council of Churches, +41-22-791-6153, +41-79-507-6363 media@wcc-coe.org

MEDIA ADVISORY, July 7 /Standard Newswire/ -- The United States' and Russia's public commitment to cut back their stockpiles of strategic nuclear weapons "is an encouraging initiative and a step forward on the difficult but essential journey that the world must take to free itself from the spectre of self-destruction," the World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia said in a statement published 7 July.

US President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev have reached an outline agreement to reduce the numbers of deployed nuclear warheads to below 1,700 on each side within seven years of a new treaty.

"We recognize the commitment of both the US and Russian leaders' joint responsibility for nuclear arms control. We urge them to stand side by side in that shared responsibility and make urgent and unambiguous progress together. In fact, we believe that by doing so they will gradually gain the moral authority needed to encourage other states in eliminating these weapons of mass destruction," the WCC statement continues.

Full text of the WCC general secretary's statement:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=6928

Churches engaged for nuclear arms control:
http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3255

Additional information: Juan Michel,+41 22 791 6153 +41 79 507 6363 media@wcc-coe.org

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560 million Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Samuel Kobia, from the Methodist Church in Kenya. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.