Mikhail Gorbachev’s Address to Members of International Interfaith Organizations

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Dear friends,

I was glad to learn from my friend George Shultz that on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing your organizations are planning a joint statement on the need to abolish nuclear weapons. The text that I reviewed is a passionate appeal to join the fight for a nuclear weapon-free future for all mankind.

You are right to appeal to politicians, diplomats, religious leaders, youth, scientists, environmentalists. But above all, you are appealing to citizens – which means to every person. For today, fighting for the abolition of nuclear weapons is the civic duty of each and every one of us.

I am sure that, thanks to initiatives such as yours, there will be more and more people around the world who understand it.

Together with you, I am appealing to the citizens of all countries:

Put pressure on your leaders, politicians and elected officials, keep telling them again and again that the very existence of nuclear weapons poses a deadly threat to humanity. Demand that they take concrete action so that the arsenals of nuclear weapons get smaller with every passing year!

We started on the road to a world without nuclear weapons in Reykjavik. It turned out to be a difficult and thorny path. But there must be no other goal than the complete elimination – the abolition of nuclear weapons.

I wish you the strength of spirit, dedication and perseverance in advancing that goal.

Sincerely,

Mikhail Gorbachev