The United States stressed on Monday that its priority during the first preparatory committee for the eleventh review conference of the non-proliferation treaty (NPT) of nuclear weapons will be the preservation and strengthening of that pact.
“Our top priority for the preparatory committee and this review cycle will be to preserve and strengthen this landmark treaty, not despite the challenges we face, but because of them,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in a statement.
The first meeting of the preparatory committee for the eleventh conference of the parties in charge of the revision of that treaty is scheduled from this Monday until August 11 in Vienna.
“The United States continues to work in good faith to advance all aspects of the treaty, including the Article VI obligation to conduct good faith negotiations on effective measures related to nuclear disarmament,” Miller said.
The United States, as specified, will insist “on full compliance with the non-proliferation safeguards of the NPT” and will ask all parties “Raise the bar wherever possible and condemn violations where they occur.”
The current challenges, Miller added, should serve as a reminder of the need for the treaty.
“Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s nuclear power facilities raises serious nuclear security concerns and undermines Ukraine’s right under the NPT to access peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The rapid and opaque expansion of China’s nuclear weapons continues unabated and questions remain about Iran’s nuclear program and compliance with safeguards,” he stressed.
Miller found it equally troubling that, “20 years after announcing its withdrawal from the NPT, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) continues to develop its nuclear arsenal and engages in threatening rhetoric regarding its use.”
The NPT, with 191 States parties, is the treaty with the largest number of accessions in the field of nuclear non-proliferation, the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and nuclear disarmament. It was opened for signature in 1968, entered into force on March 5, 1970, and was indefinitely extended in May 1995.
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