GENEVA, January 24. /TASS/. Russia is committed to the goal of creating a world free of nuclear weapons, but, at the same time, Moscow considers attempts to enforce prompt elimination of the arsenals of nuclear countries without taking their security interests into consideration pointless, says Gennady Gatilov, Russian Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva.
"Russia remains committed to the goal of creating a world free of nuclear weapons," he said during the annual session of the Disarmament Conference in Geneva. He noted that "the intent to continue acting within the framework of obligations under Article 6 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was reaffirmed by the Russian delegation during the 10th NPT Review Conference in August 2022."
"In order to restore the nuclear disarmament process and to achieve tangible results along the way, the efforts of the entire international community are required for establishing a climate of security conducive to consistent progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons," Gatilov continued. "On the other hand, attempts to impose on nuclear countries the urgent and unconditional liquidation of their arsenals without taking the existing strategic reality and their legitimate security interests into account, are, quite obviously, hopeless," the Russian envoy said.
The Russian delegation is "ready for a substantial discussion of the entire complex of issues, related to nuclear disarmament, taking into account the discussions that took place during the 10th NPT Review Conference," Gatilov said.
Moscow also considers it extremely important to "thoroughly discuss the issue of provision of ‘negative’ security guarantees for non-nuclear states, which has become multi-dimensional due to the establishment of the AUKUS trilateral partnership, the years-long practice of joint nuclear missions within NATO, and the final cementing of nuclear status for this military-political bloc, with the vast majority of member states considering themselves non-nuclear states," the envoy said.