Global Nuclear Experts Form 'Crisis Group' to Advise Government Leaders

A group of former nuclear experts, including military leaders and diplomats for eight nations, plan to launch a council this week to advise government leaders on how to avoid a nuclear confrontation, US media reported on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The Nuclear Crisis Group plans to offer advice publicly and privately to US President Donald Trump and other world leaders on how to reduce the current tensions around nuclear weapons and avoid a possible nuclear conflict, the Politico reported.

Among the members of the new group are military and nuclear experts from the United States, Russia, China, India and Pakistan as well as diplomats from a number of nations, including former US Ambassador to the United Nations Thomas Pickering.

Richard Burt, a Nuclear Crisis Group leader and the lead US negotiator on the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, said poor relations between the United States and Russia, nuclear programs in North Korea and China, and the India-Pakistan arms race contributed to the threat of nuclear conflict.

The newspaper said the new group would be similar to the Cold War era "Track II" diplomacy efforts where non-government actors with influence operated behind the scenes to resolve conflicts.

The Nuclear Crisis Group is expected to be announced in Vienna on Friday.

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