Addressing a crowd on the eastern side of the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin Wednesday, President Obama called for the US to reduce its nuclear arsenal by as much as a third.

“We may not live in fear of nuclear annihilation — but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we are not truly safe,” the president said in a speech reminiscent of one given by John F. Kennedy in 1963 on the west side of the city.

The president claimed that his administration would seek to negotiate nuclear cuts with Russia and to work with NATO allies for ‘bold reductions in Europe.’ Back in Washington, the White House has instructed the Defense Department to up its non-nuclear capabilities and reduce the role of nuclear launches in contingency planning, among other things. President Obama’s proposal comes amid tensions between the US and Russia over Syria.

Washington’s reaction was mixed. Rep. Adam Smith (D- Wash.), the ranking party member on the House Armed Services Committee, agreed with the arms reduction proposal, saying it ‘will improve our national security, while maintaining our nuclear triad and our ability to deter and respond to any perceived or real nuclear threat.’

But Rep. Michael Turner (R- Ohio), a member of the same committee, accused the president of appeasement and said that he ‘seems only concerned with winning the approval of nations like Russia, who will applaud a weakened United States.’