Nuclear Policy News – February 21, 2019

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TOP NEWS

Second U.S.-North Korea Summit Likely Focus on Nuclear Weapons Center
NPR

Flynn Pushed To Transfer Nuclear Tech To Saudi Arabia, New Report Says
Christian Science Monitor

Putin’s Warning on Missiles in Europe Pushes U.S. And Russia Closer to New Arms Race
Los Angeles Times

Middle East

Trump’s Administration Reportedly Looked for Ways to Help Saudi Arabia Build A Nuclear Weapon
Business Insider2/19/2019
The House Committee on Oversight and Reform released a report on Tuesday with whistleblowers saying Trump administration officials tried to transfer sensitive nuclear secrets to one of the world’s last true monarchies.

Donald Trump Rushing to Sell Saudi Arabia Nuclear Technology
Al Jazeera2/19/2019
The administration of President Donald Trump is bypassing the United States Congress to advance the sale of US nuclear power plants to Saudi Arabia, despite concerns it would violate US law guarding against technology transfers, according to a new report by a congressional committee.

Flynn Pushed To Transfer Nuclear Tech To Saudi Arabia, New Report Says
Christian Science Monitor2/20/2019
Relying on the whistleblower accounts, email communications, and other documents, the committee’s report details how NSC and ethics officials repeatedly warned that the actions of Mr. Flynn and a senior aide could run afoul of federal conflicts of interest law and statutes governing the transfer of nuclear technology to foreign powers.

East Asia

Second U.S.-North Korea Summit Likely Focus on Nuclear Weapons Center
NPR2/21/2019
When President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un discuss denuclearization in Hanoi, they are likely to focus on one North Korean nuclear facility in particular. NPR’s Geoff Brumfiel introduces us to it.

Why Trump Is Lowering Expectations for Next Week’s Kim Jong Un Summit
Vox2/20/2019
Trump plans to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Vietnam at the end of February for their second summit. Trump’s main goal, as it was when they met for the first time in Singapore last June, is to strike a deal to dismantle North Korea’s nuclear program.

What’s Changed Between U.S. And North Korea Since First Summit
NPR2/20/2019
This time, Trump’s tone is less heated and on the substance and the central U.S. demand that North Korea give up nuclear weapons. The president has been tempering expectations.

Russia/FSU/Europe

Putin’s Warning on Missiles in Europe Pushes U.S. And Russia Closer to New Arms Race
Los Angeles Times2/20/2019
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned the Trump administration Wednesday against basing intermediate-range missiles in Europe, saying that Moscow would respond by deploying new weapons of its own that could directly target Washington

Why Russia Covets Hypersonic Weapons
The Hill2/20/2019
Russia’s ongoing development of hypersonic weapons proves nuclear weapons are in fact warfighting weapons — contrary to conventional wisdom in the West.

A US-Russia Pact Preventing Nuclear Armageddon Is in Trouble
Defense News2/20/2019
While New START remains in effect for another two years, the clock is ticking, warns François Heisbourg, senior adviser for Europe at the IISS think tank. Given the Trump administration’s “low level of energy” toward extending the accord, Heisbourg warned there is a real danger of its eventual demise. Moscow is equally to blame, he added. “Russia seems on a path to want INF and New START gone.”

Special Interest

Green MEPs Held After Anti-Nuclear Protest at Belgian Military Base
The Guardian2/20/2019
The Guardian reports that three Green MEPs – including one from the UK – have been arrested after breaking into a Belgian military airbase to protest against its stockpiling of American B61 nuclear bombs.

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