TOP NEWS Russia’s Putin meets North Korea’s Kim: Sideshow or power move in nuclear crisis? Deutsche Welle Open Forum: Time for a reality check on nuclear diplomacy San Francisco Chronicle – Jerry Brown and William Potter A Different Use for Artificial Intelligence In Nuclear Weapons Command And Control War on the Rocks – Jaganath Sankaran East Asia Russia’s Putin meets North Korea’s Kim: Sideshow or power move in nuclear crisis? Deutsche Welle4/24/2019 In the wake of stalled nuclear talks with the US, Kim is seeking diplomatic assistance from the Kremlin. Russia wants stability on its far-eastern border — but President Putin may have a bigger picture in mind. ‘I have long dreamed of visiting’: Kim Jong Un arrives in Russia for talks with Putin Washington Post4/24/2019 The Kremlin has said no major agreements will be signed nor joint statements issued during Kim’s meeting with Putin, which is expected to take place behind closed doors. This has not stopped pomp and ceremony from surrounding Kim’s inaugural visit to Russia. Kim Jong Un Asks Putin to Play Go-Between as Trump Talks Sputter Bloomberg4/24/2019 “Chairman Kim Jong Un himself asked us to inform the American side about his position,” Putin told reporters after more than three hours of talks on a university campus in the Russian Pacific port of Vladivostok. “There are no secrets here. We will discuss this with the Americans and our Chinese partners,” said Putin, who is heading to Beijing later Thursday. Putin says Kim Jong Un needs internationally-backed security guarantees for a nuclear deal CBS News4/25/2019 Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said Thursday they had good talks about their joint efforts to resolve a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear program. Putin suggested that while Russia and the U.S. both want denuclearization, the Trump administration will have to make greater compromises than it has been willing to thus far to make that happen. Multi-lateral Arms Control What to look for in the 2019 NPT Preparatory Committee European Leadership Network4/23/2019 What, then, can we expect from the 2019 PrepCom? Judging from the 2017 and 2018 meetings, the major challenges for the NPT-based regime will come from real-world nuclear developments, NPT-related issues that are freighted with historic and procedural significance (or baggage), and the proliferation policies of nuclear-armed states. While related, these should not be conflated. Opinion/Analysis Open Forum: Time for a reality check on nuclear diplomacy San Francisco Chronicle – Jerry Brown and William Potter4/24/2019 On Monday,diplomats from around the world are meeting at the United Nations in New York to review the state of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. This treaty, commonly known as the NPT, came into force 49 years ago, and is widely regarded as the cornerstone of international disarmament and nonproliferation diplomacy. What Russia thinks about North Korea’s nuclear weapons Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists-Anastasia Barannikova4/24/2019 North Korean leader Kim Jong Un arrived in Russia today for a meeting with President Vladimir Putin. Despite Russia’s past vote in favor of sanctions on Kim’s regime, Moscow has many reasons not to lean too hard on Kim over nuclear disarmament. Pressing the Button: How Nuclear-Armed Countries Plan To Launch Armageddon (And What To Do About The U.S.) War on the Rocks – Jeffrey Lewis and Bruno Tertrais4/24/2019 The presidency of Donald Trump has renewed a lingering debate about how much of the terrible responsibility to inflict large-scale nuclear destruction nuclear-armed countries should invest in a single person. The question is not only about Trump, of course. He is a member of a club that also includes Russia’s Vladimir Putin, China’s Xi Jinping and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un — “Rocketman” himself. It is a club that is far more exclusive than the Mar-a-Lago. A Different Use for Artificial Intelligence In Nuclear Weapons Command And Control War on the Rocks – Jaganath Sankaran4/25/2019 Artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to change the way the United States and other nations operate their nuclear command and control. For instance, a recent RAND report surveyed AI and nuclear security experts and notes that “AI is expected to become more widely used in aids to decisionmaking” in command-and-control platforms. The report also indicated the possibility that narrow AI could in the future act as a “trusted advisor” in nuclear command and control.