Russia blocks final draft of nuclear disarmament treaty at UN
Amonth-long meeting on nuclear disarmament ended in failure at the United Nations Friday night when Russia refused to accept the final draft of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
The treaty is reviewed every five years as part of an effort to reduce nuclear risks and stop the expansion of nuclear arsenals around the world.
The failure of the negotiations came amid disagreements over Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which has entered its sixth month.
Russia had tried to make amendments to the treaty which would have "produced chaos" at this late stage in the negotiations, said UN Ambassador Gustavo Zlauvinen.
"It's like we made a movie this month, but don't have the final picture," Zlauvinen said.
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons said the lack of action was inexcusable at a time of heightened risk.
"This result is terminally unserious and a total abdication of responsibility in the face of an unacceptably dangerous global situation," the group's Executive Director Beatrice Fihn said.
"The nuclear-armed states have not only failed to make progress on their disarmament obligations but have spent over $82 billion on maintaining and upgrading their arsenals, when the risk of use of nuclear weapons is higher than ever, the failure of the review conference to take any action is inexcusable," Fihn added.
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