NATO criticizes UN nuclear weapons ban treaty

(Baonghean.vn) - On September 20, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) criticized the United Nations (UN) global treaty on banning nuclear weapons as an unrealistic document, warning that this treaty could undermine international responses to North Korea's nuclear weapons program.

122 UN member states adopted the treaty banning nuclear weapons in July 2017. Photo: AP

NATO representatives said the treaty "overlooks the reality that the international security environment is under many challenges" due to increasing threats, especially from North Korea, which recently conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date.

“At a time when the world needs to remain united in the face of growing threats, especially the grave threat posed by Pyongyang’s nuclear program, the treaty fails to address these urgent security challenges,” the 29-nation military alliance said.

NATO stressed: “The intention to ban nuclear weapons through the implementation of such a treaty, without the participation of any of the actual nuclear-weapon states, will not be effective, will not reduce nuclear arsenals, and will not enhance the security of any country, nor international peace and security. Instead, it will have the opposite effect, creating division at a time when a common approach to security threats is needed more than ever.”

NATO believes the UN nuclear weapons ban treaty could undermine the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to prevent the spread of atomic weapons and obliges nuclear-armed states to reduce their stockpiles.

The UN approved the treaty last July, although none of the nine nuclear-weapon states participated in the negotiations or the vote, and three of them, Britain, France and the United States, NATO members, immediately announced they had no intention of joining the treaty./.

Lan Ha

(According to AFP)