 After the U.S. midterm elections in 2010, Westerwelle called on newly empowered Republicans in the U.S. Congress to stand by President Barack Obama’s goals of non- proliferation and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons.In coordination with his foundation and The ATOM Project, Westerwelle continued to advocate for the elimination of nuclear weapons testing.In the belief that the European Union had to engage Belarus to prevent it from moving closer to Russia, Westerwelle – accompanied by his Polish counterpart Radek Sikorski – visited Minsk in November 2010, the first such visit in 15 years.