(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-05-28 14:57

BEIJING -- US Sen. John McCain called for a new nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia on Tuesday, staking out a position on nonproliferation somewhat different from the policies of the Bush administration.

US Republican presidential candidate and US Senator John McCain gives a foreign policy speech in Denver, Colorado May 27, 2008. [Agencies]

In a speech at the University of Denver, the presumptive Republican nominee said "it is my hope to move as rapidly as possible to a significantly smaller force" of nuclear weapons -- "the lowest possible number" -- though he gave no goals or targets.

While Bush has said he does not want to reduce US and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals below 1,700 to 2,200 deployed strategic nuclear weapons -- a reduction by more than half -- McCain suggested he would seek a new agreement with lower targets, though he did not give a precise figure.

McCain cited former president Ronald Reagan's dream of eliminating nuclear weapons, but he did not embrace proposals to eliminate nuclear weapons offered by the so-called Gang of Four -- former secretaries of state George P. Shultz and Henry Kissinger, former defense secretary William Perry and former senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.).

Both of the leading Democratic candidates have touted their support for the proposals, with Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) co-sponsoring a bill with Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) that recommends many of the measures.

McCain aides said that Schultz and Kissinger, both of whom have endorsed him, were consulted on the speech and that McCain agrees with the Gang of Four on many key issues.

Without mentioning him by name, McCain also criticized Obama, who has said he is willing to meet with the leaders of Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Iran.

"Many believe all we need to do to end the nuclear programs of hostile governments is have our president talk with leaders in Pyongyang and Tehran, as if we haven't tried talking to these governments repeatedly over the past two decades," McCain said.

The Obama campaign responded to the speech by noting the similarity between what McCain said and positions Obama has taken. "By embracing many aspects of Barack Obama's nonproliferation agenda today, John McCain highlighted Obama's leadership on nuclear weapons throughout this campaign," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton said in a statement.