Russia says the final draft text on nuclear disarmament lacks “balance.” (File)
United Nation:
Russia on Friday blocked the adoption of a joint statement following a four-week United Nations conference on the nuclear disarmament treaty, with Moscow rejecting what it said were “mainstream” aspects. value” of the text.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), reviewed every five years by the 191 signatories, aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament, and promote cooperation in the use of nuclear weapons. use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Nations have gathered at UN headquarters in New York since August 1 to engage in a month of negotiations, including the last session that was postponed by several hours on Friday.
In the end, the conference’s president, Gustavo Zlauvinen of Argentina, said they were “not qualified to reach an agreement” after Russia presented the text.
Russian representative Igor Vishnevetsky said the final draft text, which is more than 30 pages long, lacks “balance”.
“Our delegation has an important objection to certain passages of a blatantly political nature,” he said, adding that Russia was not the only country to raise issues with the text.
According to sources close to the negotiations, Russia has specifically objected to passages concerning the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia, which is occupied by the Russian military.
The latest draft has expressed “grave concern” about military activities around Ukrainian power plants, including Zaporizhzhia, as well as Ukraine’s loss of control of such sites and the negative impact extremely safe.
The signatories discussed several other hot topics during the conference, including Iran’s nuclear program and North Korea’s nuclear tests.
At the final review conference in 2015, the parties were also unable to reach agreement on substantive issues.
At the opening of this year’s conference, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the world faced “a nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.”
“Today, humanity is just a misunderstanding, a miscalculation that leads to nuclear annihilation,” Guterres said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a collaborative feed.)
