EuropeNorth America

‘US, UK, France will boycott nuclear weapons ban treaty talks at UN’

 

Haley said that Britain and France were also among about 40 countries that would not join the talks starting at the UN General Assembly in New York on Monday.

“You are going to see almost 40 countries that are not in the General Assembly today,” she said.

“In this day and time we can’t honestly that say we can protect our people by allowing the bad actors to have them and those of us that are good trying to keep peace and safety, not to have them,” she added.

Many nations, including Japan which suffered atomic attacks by the US in 1945, will join the conference. More than 120 others endorsed a plan for “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” and encouraged others to participate.

Haley said that the countries not joining the negotiations are instead committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

A view of the United Nations headquarters in New York (file photo)

In addition, British Representative to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft said that his country was also “not attending the negotiations on a treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons because we do not believe that those negotiations will lead to effective progress on global nuclear disarmament.”

Meanwhile, French Deputy Representative to the United Nations Alexis Lamek said the security conditions were not appropriate for a legally binding nuclear ban.

“In the current perilous context, considering in particular the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery, our countries continue to rely on nuclear deterrence for security and stability,” Lamek said.

Back to top button