PARIS: French President Nicolas Sarkozy has said France will reduce its number of airborne nuclear weapons by one third.
Mr Sarkozy said the reduction to fewer than 300 missiles would leave France with "half the maximum number of warheads we had during the Cold War".
But he also insisted he was committed to France’s nuclear deterrent, saying it was its "life-insurance policy".
France is believed to have 348 deployed nuclear weapons, including 288 submarine-launched ballistic missiles, 50 air-launched cruise missiles and 10 airborne bombs, according to the Federation of American Scientists.
At the same time, Mr Sarkozy appealed for other nations to scale back their nuclear arsenals and called on China and the US to finally ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty, which they signed in 1996.
He also called for an international treaty-banning short and medium range ground-to-ground missiles and another banning the manufacture of fissile material for nuclear weapons.
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