Further comment on the NPT conference
Posted: 31st August 2022
Russian officials have been blasted by their United States counterparts for “cynical obstructionism” after Moscow blocked the United Nations from adopting a joint declaration on nuclear non-proliferation. The US said on Sunday that after weeks of talks on The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and promotes disarmament, that Russia had prevented the declaration from being adopted over “cynical” aspects of the text. Moscow had claimed that certain “political” aspects of the declaration, which is reviewed every few years and signed by 191 nations, were problematic, in apparent reference to “grave concerns” raised by the international community about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine.
Independent 29th Aug 2022
Another NPT fails – due to reckless nuclear-armed governments. Dr Rebecca Johnson writes from New York: On Friday night I saw Russia’s delegates blame others for Moscow’s decision to veto the outcome document, putting another nail into the NPT coffin. The delegation then staged a walk-out that was meant to be intimidating, but just looked pathetic. Everyone was exhausted. It was long after the Tenth Review Conference should have ended, but the Argentine President Gustavo Zlauvinen had gone several extra miles to try to find language that Moscow would agree to on Zaporizhzhia, the endangered nuclear power plant in Ukraine. The text had already been watered down many times. What Russia really wanted was a text that would not contain any mention of Zaporizhzhia. As the NPT is supposed to deal with risks from nuclear power as well as weapons, that was impossible for others to accept. The text before us no longer contained explicit mentions of the war on Ukraine, but reference had to be made to finding ways to ensure that Zaporizhzhia did not explode into a worse nuclear catastrophe than Chernobyl and Fukushima. Regrettably the NPT in 1968 was structured to reinforce the status of five nuclear-armed states and promote nuclear technologies for what were then called ‘peaceful purposes’. Despite many well-meaning intentions and efforts by nuclear-free countries over decades, NPT conferences are still riddled with contradictions that drive proliferation and nuclear dangers rather than eliminating them. In this 2022 delayed conference Russia and other nuclear-armed NPT members have spent four weeks criticising each other while colluding to block meaningful recommendations and actions on nuclear disarmament and nuclear dangers from the existing nuclear arsenals and facilities. Despite the rhetoric, they helped each other to keep and wield their own nuclear weapons, come what may.
CND 30th Aug 2022
Minister Coveney Statement on the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. “I profoundly regret that lengthy negotiations at the Tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty have concluded without agreement. I regret that Russia, alone, prevented agreement on a balanced draft outcome document that was acceptable to all other states. At a moment when nuclear threats are urgent, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty must remain an essential element of international peace and security. The heightened nuclear risks arising from Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, and the threats to nuclear safety and security resulting from military activity in and near civilian nuclear facilities in Ukraine, are unprecedented.”
Irish Dept of Foreign Affairs 29th Aug 2022