France's reluctance to go much further on the rhetoric of nuclear abolition is linked to the fact that it has taken unprecedented decisions in dismantling its nuclear weapons testing site and fissile production material facilities. Such concrete gestures have had no equivalent so far elsewhere and it would be hard to blame the French for expecting others to follow suit, rather than escalating their rhetoric on nuclear disarmament. (President Sarkozy argued in March 2008 that "reciprocity" should be the basis of collective security and disarmament.[2]) Paris now observes much more transparency in its nuclear policies than was the case in the past by opening its former testing and fissile material production facilities to international visits (including by non-governmental organizations and journalists), and announcing publicly the total number of its nuclear weapons ("less than 300," said Sarkozy) – something no other nuclear-endowed country has done so far, including the United States and Russia, whose negotiations focus only on operationally available strategic weapons.