Due to a blockade by Russia, the 10th UN Conference on the Review of the Non-Proliferation Treaty ended without a joint closing statement. The Russian delegation declined to agree because the draft text expresses “great concern” about military activities around Ukrainian nuclear power plants – especially Zaporizhzhya. Earlier, the participants also failed to agree on binding deadlines for the decommissioning of nuclear weapons. Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg (ÖVP) is disappointed with the failed end of the four-week conference.
The Russian representative explained that the reason for Russia’s refusal to agree to the final text was the lack of “balance”. Igor Wischnewetskiz. For example, he came across part of the text stating that “as a result of these military activities, the concerned Ukrainian authorities have lost control of these facilities and that these activities have a very negative impact on security”. The final design was therefore not approved. According to Vishnevetsky, some other countries are also on the side of Russia.
Another representative of Russia complained that other participants had used the conference to settle scores with Russia over the war against Ukraine rather than campaigning for nuclear disarmament. The NPV Review Conference began on August 1 in New York and lasted four weeks. Following Russia’s statement, representatives of dozens of other participating countries agreed with the letter. They were disappointed that no agreement was reached.
‘Now Russia has torpedoed the NPT’
Minister Schallenberg is also frustrated. “Unfortunately, the day after the end of the negotiations in New York, it is clear that the nuclear-armed states only want to stick to the status quo,” he said, criticizing the fruitless end of the UN conference. “All alarm sirens should be ringing,” Schallenberg said in a broadcast on Saturday. “The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine and Russia’s completely irresponsible nuclear threats, especially the Russian roulette with Europe’s largest nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhya, show us very clearly how real the danger of a nuclear catastrophe is. Now Russia has also torpedoed the NPT.”
Contrary to the disarmament obligations enshrined in the NPT, all five nuclear-weapon states — the US, France, China, Britain and Russia — have increased or improved their arsenals, Schallenberg explains. In addition, an increasing group of States, led by Austria, are making progress in implementing its obligations and have negotiated the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the first meeting of the Contracting States of which took place in Vienna in June under the Austrian Presidency,” said the Foreign Minister. This is a concrete step towards a world without nuclear weapons. And we make it clear that we do not accept the status quo.”
Different treaty rules for major nuclear powers
The treaty, which entered into force in 1970, has so far been ratified by 191 countries worldwide. The goal is the disarmament of nuclear weapons. Critics, however, complain that the five official nuclear powers US, China, Great Britain, France and Russia have different rules than the signatories without nuclear weapons.
According to the Federation of American Scientists (FAS), India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea also have nuclear weapons but are not signatory states. According to the FAS, there were about 12,700 nuclear warheads worldwide by the end of 2022. That is only a fraction of the estimated 70,300 weapons at the height of nuclear armament during the Cold War in 1986.
Source: Krone
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