Russia on Friday refused to sign a statement reviewing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This was reported by the French news agency AFP on Friday evening. Since the beginning of this month, a large number of countries and NGOs have gathered in New York for the 10th UN Review Conference. There, some delegates hoped to set binding deadlines for the phasing out of nuclear weapons in the world, but Russia thought the final text was “shamelessly political”.
Binding decisions require consensus among the 191 signatories to the NPT, which came into force in 1970. However, Russian envoy Igor Vishnevetsky missed the ‘balance’ in the thirty-page draft final text. Although it is not known to which specific parts he refers, AFP states that the final text contained four references to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Those paragraphs in particular would offend Russia — but also some other countries.
Compared to the height of the Cold War in 1986, the number of nuclear warheads in the world is now significantly reduced: estimated from 70,300 to 12,700. Yet United Nations chief António Guterres warned of the growing risk of nuclear destruction from the numerous crises and conflicts worldwide. The world is in a “period of nuclear danger unprecedented since the height of the Cold War,” Guterres said at the start of the UN conference.
The situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, located in a vulnerable spot at the front, remains worrying. On Thursday, the power supply to the plant was cut off and the reactors had to be cooled with emergency generators. Three of the four power lines to the nuclear power plant had already been damaged by shelling from the Russian army. The UN Security Council and world leaders are pushing for a swift inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but an agreement has not yet been reached.