PATRIOT PARK /Moscow Region/, August 15. /TASS/. Washington is ready to encroach upon the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in a bid to exempt its nuclear project under the AUKUS security pact among Australia, the UK and the US, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at the 11th Moscow Conference on International Security.

"The US has derailed a number of key agreements on arms control and non-proliferation, and it is now ready, and already some concerns have appeared about this, to encroach upon the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, one of the cornerstones of the global security architecture. In particular, we have seen this happening, and such risks are being created as a result of attempts to exempt the Anglo-Saxon nuclear project within the AUKUS military bloc, for which they are already seeking to enlist Japan and South Korea," he noted.

"The refusal by US and NATO officials to honestly discuss an initiative on legally binding security guarantees, which [Russian] President [Vladimir] Putin put forward in December 2021, is a link in the same chain," Russia’s top diplomat added.