BERLIN (AP) — Summoning the harsh history of this once-divided city, President Barack Obama on Wednesday cautioned the U.S. and Europe against "complacency" brought on by peace, pledging to cut America's deployed nuclear weapons by one-third if Cold War foe Russia does the same.
The president also declared that his far-reaching surveillance programs had saved lives on both sides of the Atlantic, as he sought to defend the controversial data-mining to skeptical Europeans.
Speaking against the soaring backdrop of the Brandenburg Gate, Obama said that "bold reductions" to the U.S. and Russian nuclear forces were needed to move the two powers away from the war posture that continues to seed mistrust between their governments.
"We may not live in fear of nuclear annihilation, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe," Obama said as he closed a three-day visit to Europe, his first trip to the continent since winning re-election.
