'Global Hiroshima' Must Be Prevented by Elimination of Nukes

David Krieger, the president of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, told Sputnik on Sunday that the elimination of the nuclear weapons would prevent a "global Hiroshima" and make the world safer. According to Krieger, this would also show respect for the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

MOSCOW (Sputnik), Anastasia Levchenko — Remembering the tragedy of Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings, nuclear-armed countries must lead the world toward the elimination of nuclear weapons, David Krieger said.

On Sunday, the world commemorates the 70th anniversary of the US nuclear bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki during World War II.

In 1945, the United States conducted the only nuclear attacks in the warfare history against Hiroshima and Nagasaki, on August 6 and 9 respectively. The two bombings claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people.

"On the 70th anniversary of the use of nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it is past time for the world to change course. Rather than pursue current plans to spend trillions of dollars on modernizing nuclear arsenals, the nuclear-armed countries should lead the world in negotiations to achieve the phased, verifiable, irreversible and transparent elimination of nuclear weapons," Krieger said.