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World Leaders Meet With Obama to Curb Nuclear Threat As Obama Hosts Summit, China Overshadows Nuclear Talks
(about 9 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Leaders from more than 50 countries gathered here on Thursday at the behest of President Obama to try to reduce the threat from nuclear weapons. But the Nuclear Security Summit, the fourth and possibly last of these gatherings, opened with a palpably subdued atmosphere. WASHINGTON — President Obama gathered more than 50 world leaders here on Thursday to discuss one of his favorite topics: locking down nuclear weapons. But it was Mr. Obama’s meeting with one of the less friendly of those leaders, President Xi Jinping of China, that captured most of the attention.
President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia is boycotting the meeting, which makes major breakthroughs on global security unlikely, given his country’s vast nuclear stockpile. And with Mr. Obama — who conceived and championed these meetings — leaving office next year, several experts said it was unlikely that a Nuclear Security Summit would even happen again. The leaders announced that the United States and China would sign a climate change accord later in April, a show of unity on an issue that has become a bright spot in the tangled relationship between the two countries. But they quickly moved on to more contentious issues, with Mr. Obama pressing Mr. Xi on China’s construction of military facilities in the South China Sea, actions that a White House official said belied a pledge the Chinese president had made last fall not to militarize those waters.
Mr. Obama is expected to celebrate some achievements, including 102 nations signing an amendment to a 1987 treaty that stiffens standards for the physical protection of nuclear materials. But analysts said major security risks remained, not least the large stockpiles of weapons-grade nuclear fuel held in military facilities around the world. “Like China and other countries, the United States has significant interests in the Asia-Pacific region,” Mr. Obama said to Mr. Xi before the meeting, his only extended encounter with a visiting leader at the Nuclear Security Summit, which will conclude on Friday.
The most symbolic news on the first morning of the meeting came on another front. The White House announced that the United States and China would sign the landmark Paris Agreement on climate change on April 22, the first day on which the United Nations accord will be opened for government signatures. Officials cast that as a statement of joint resolve by the world’s two largest emitters of greenhouse gases. “Our two countries have some disputes and disagreements,” Mr. Xi replied. He called for both sides to “avoid misunderstanding and misperceptions,” and to respect each other’s core interests — a polite warning not to meddle in the South China Sea, which Beijing regards as a core interest.
Binding global agreements on nuclear security remain elusive, so the meeting will most likely to focus on regional threats. The terrorist attack in Belgium last week has cast a shadow over the gathering, particularly after reports that fighters for the Islamic State were seeking to penetrate a nuclear facility to obtain material for a so-called radioactive dirty bomb. China’s neighbors dispute its claims to reefs and shoals, and fear that it is colonizing one of the world’s most strategic waterways. The United States has dispatched Navy ships to guarantee that the sea lanes remain unobstructed, but that has raised the risk of a confrontation with Chinese warships.
Mr. Obama has added a session to discuss the status of the military campaign against the Islamic State, in which the administration continues to claim gains. In the afternoon, he will meet with President François Hollande of France — the Islamic State killed more than 125 people in Paris last November. It is Mr. Obama’s only planned one-on-one meeting with a leader, aside from one with President Xi Jinping of China. During a visit to Washington in September, Mr. Xi declared that China would not “pursue militarization” of the South China Sea. But since then, it has installed surface-to-air missile batteries and military radar on reefs and newly reclaimed islands hundreds of miles from the Chinese mainland.
The president’s refusal to meet individually with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has roiled the diplomatic waters, though the White House on Wednesday did not rule out the possibility that the two men might meet briefly on the margins of the summit. “We have seen developments and reports that are not consistent with the commitment not to militarize the South China Sea,” said Benjamin J. Rhodes, the deputy national security adviser.
Mr. Putin’s snub was not unexpected, given the rift between Russia and the United States over Moscow’s military aggression in Syria and Ukraine. But the White House pointed out that Russia has nevertheless cooperated on nuclear issues, not least its role in the multi-party talks with Iran over curbing its nuclear program. (Iran was not invited to attend the summit.) Mr. Xi and Mr. Obama found more common ground on confronting the nuclear threat posed by North Korea. China supported a new round of United Nations sanctions against the Pyongyang government after it tested a nuclear device and fired ballistic missiles.
Russia is “going to miss out on an opportunity to coordinate with the rest of the international community on these important issues,” Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary, told reporters on Wednesday. To reassure America’s allies in the face of their rogue neighbor, Mr. Obama also met with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and South Korea’s president, Park Geun-hye.
“I do think that it serves to further illustrate the degree to which Russia is isolated from the rest of the international community – that for whatever reason, they’ve chosen not to engage in this conversation,” Mr. Earnest said. Those countries were thrust into the American political campaign in recent days after the Republican front-runner, Donald J. Trump, proposed they acquire nuclear weapons to deter the threat from North Korea. A senior Japanese official quickly reaffirmed Japan’s commitment to remain nuclear-free.
China, on the other hand, is getting V.I.P. treatment from Mr. Obama. He and Mr. Xi are expected to discuss a range of issues, including the nuclear threat from North Korea, which has tested a nuclear device and fired ballistic missiles in recent months. But the climate announcement was the centerpiece. Mr. Trump’s comments did not come up in the three-way meeting with Mr. Obama, according to American officials. But Mr. Rhodes issued a withering response to the proposal, saying it would undercut decades of nonproliferation policy.
“We, our two countries, with this joint statement, are taking an important step forward by encouraging the entry into force of this agreement,” Brian Deese, Mr. Obama’s senior climate change adviser, told reporters. “It would be catastrophic were the United States to shift its position and indicate that we somehow support the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” he said.
The announcement is intended to spur other countries to sign the deal, after doubts were raised as to when and whether the United States could meet its own obligations under the agreement. In February, the Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Obama administration’s effort to combat global warming by regulating greenhouse-gas pollution from power plants. “The entire premise of American foreign policy as it relates to nuclear weapons for the last 70 years has been focused on preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons,” he continued. “That has been the position of bipartisan administrations, of everybody who has occupied the Oval Office.”
“We have and will continue to demonstrate that the U.S. has the capacity and tools to meet the commitment,” Mr. Deese said. “We feel very confident that the Clean Power Plan is on solid legal foundation.” Domestic politics and regional concerns both seemed to crowd out any discussion of global efforts to secure nuclear materials. And for all the hubbub — the intense security; the motorcades snarling traffic in downtown Washington — the meeting opened on a subdued note.
North Korea will also be center-stage at a three-way meeting this morning between Mr. Obama, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan and President Park Geun-hye of South Korea. Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, was a no-show, which made breakthroughs on security unlikely, given his country’s vast nuclear stockpile. The terrorist attack in Belgium last week also cast a shadow over the gathering, particularly after reports that fighters for the Islamic State were seeking to penetrate a nuclear facility to obtain material for a so-called radioactive dirty bomb.
The Nuclear Security Summit grew out of a landmark speech given by Mr. Obama in Prague in 2009, in which he set a goal of ridding the world of nuclear weapons. Leaders first convened in Washington in 2010, and again in South Korea in 2012 and the Netherlands in 2014. Mr. Obama has added a session to discuss the campaign against the Islamic State, in which the administration continues to claim gains. He met on Thursday with President François Hollande of France, his only one-on-one session with a leader aside from Mr. Xi. Mr. Obama praised Mr. Hollande for “galvanizing the European community” in the fight against terrorism.
On Thursday evening, as the leaders gather for a dinner at the White House, 102 nations will have ratified an amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material, enough to bring into force changes that were first proposed during the Bush administration. The president’s refusal to meet with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey roiled the diplomatic waters, suggesting that Mr. Obama was displeased with Mr. Erdogan’s authoritarian bent. But White House officials said Mr. Obama planned to spend a few minutes with him at a White House dinner for the leaders on Thursday evening.
The original international agreement on protecting the material dates to 1987, but it has long been considered weak. The amendment, proposed after the Sept. 11 attacks triggered a new focus on the chances that terrorist groups could obtain nuclear material, specify minimum requirements for physical protection of civilian nuclear stocks, and for securing them when they are transported. Mr. Putin’s snub was not unexpected, given the rift between Russia and the United States over Syria and Ukraine. But the White House pointed out that Russia has nevertheless cooperated on nuclear issues, not least its role in the talks with Iran over curbing its nuclear program. (Iran was not invited to attend the summit meeting.)
But when Mr. Obama departs the scene in January, it is not clear who will keep the momentum going. While the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, supports Mr. Obama’s policies against nuclear proliferation, she has evinced little of his fervor for a nuclear-free world. “You want Russia at the table on issues of nuclear security,” Mr. Rhodes said. “They only isolate themselves by not attending summits like this.”
Meanwhile, the Republican front-runner, Donald J. Trump, proposed last week that Japan and South Korea build their own nuclear weapons to deter the threat from North Korea – a message that flatly contradicts the nonproliferation agenda of this gathering. This was the fourth and final Nuclear Security Summit of Mr. Obama’s presidency, and with Mr. Obama — who conceived and championed these meetings — leaving office next year, several experts said this was likely to be the last.
“It’s fair to say that this is an accomplishment of Obama,” Sharon Squassoni, the director of the Proliferation Prevention Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said on Tuesday. But she added, “It may not be the one he sort of ardently wished for the most.” When Mr. Obama departs in January, it is not clear who will keep the momentum going. While the Democratic front-runner, Hillary Clinton, supports Mr. Obama’s nonproliferation policies, she has evinced little of his fervor for a nuclear-free world.
But as the leaders arrived for the dinner past an honor guard lined up along the South Lawn, Mr. Obama could claim one achievement: An amendment to a treaty that stiffens standards for protecting nuclear materials was signed by 102 nations.
The original protection agreement dates to 1987, but it has long been considered weak. The amendment, proposed after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, specifies minimum requirements for physical protection of civilian nuclear stocks, and for securing them when they are transported.
As part of an effort to be more open about its nuclear inventory, the United States announced that its stockpile of highly enriched uranium declined 20 percent, to 585.6 metric tons in 2013 from 740.7 metric tons in 1996. The decline was modest, but it was the first time in 15 years that the government released these numbers.
A senior administration official, who declined to speak on the record ahead of the president’s announcement, said that the amendments to the physical protection agreement are “the closest thing we have to legally binding standards for nuclear security.”