The United States President Barack Obama warned this week that the threat of nuclear attack continues to rise as terrorists are actively pursuing nuclear materials.
On Tuesday, Obama spoke at the end of a nuclear summit stating that although the threat of nuclear war on a national level has decreased, terrorist groups such as al-Qaida are becoming a larger threat as they work to gain access to nuclear materials.
Obama called the present nuclear threat a ‘cruel irony of history’ in reference to the Cold War and waned that leaders need to take action now instead of talking about how to protect nuclear materials.
47 countries were present at the Washington summit and are working to issue a joint declaration that each will better secure their materials over the course of the next four years.
The next nuclear summit will be held in South Korea in two years.
Obama also held a private meeting with Recep Taygip Erdogan the Turkish Prime Minister, Angela Merkel the German Chancellor, and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner the Argentine President.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also signed a protocol with Russia on the same day that the country will eliminate excess plutonium from their defence program.
Prior to the start of the nuclear summit on Monday Obama also met with Chinese President Hu Jintao in order to work out potential sanctions on Iran because of its nuclear activities.
Due to suspicions regarding their nuclear programs, Syria, Iran, and North Korea were not invited to participate in the summit.
