GENEVA, July 22. /TASS/. Russia and Belarus have called on all counties to say committed to basic values and make efforts to boost the efficiency of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
"Belarus and Russia insist that the NPT is of paramount importance in terms of strengthening global security," the two countries’ delegations to the session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference said in a joint statement. "It is one of the central elements of the arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation system. Staying committed to the Treaty’s basic values and boosting its efficiency are not only the duty of all member states but also one of the top priority tasks of maintaining global stability."
The two countries’ delegations called on the global community "to stay committed to the NPT’s integrity and equal significance of all the three its fundamental parts - nuclear nonproliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy, and disarmament." The stressed that the current situation in the area of international security and strategic stability "in no way encourages disarmament activities." Among the factors that create a "negative atmosphere hampering any progress" on this track, Moscow and Minsk cited in particular NATO’s expansion to the detriment of Russia and Belarus’ security, NATO countries’ hostile actions that are fraught with risks of a direct armed conflict between nuclear powers, Washington’s attempts "to achieve decisive military superiority in a bid to secure unchallenged global dominance," and the deployment of the US global missile defense system amid stockpiling high-precision non-nuclear long-range weapons, the United States’ plans to deploy weapons in outer space and place shorter-and intermediate-range missiles in various parts of the world. Other negative factors are the United States and NATO’s attempts to "add to the disbalances in the area of conventional arms that are in their favor," the deployment of US nuclear weapons in five non-nuclear NATO countries located within the operational reach from Russia and Belarus, and "the West’s illegitimate use of restrictive measures harmful for the security of other countries in byapassing the United Nations."
The second session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference is being held in Geneva from July 22 through August 2. The Review Conference will be held in New York in 2026.
The Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was signed in 1968 and came into force in 1970. It legalized the nuclear arsenals of the five its signatories, namely the United Kingdom, China, the former Soviet Union, the United States, and France, and their status of nuclear powers. These countries committed themselves not to transfer "nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices" and "not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce" a non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS) to acquire nuclear weapons. The treaty, however, infringe on their rights to carry out research, generate and use nuclear energy in peaceful purposes. In 1995, the treaty, which originally was signed for a term of 25 years, was extended indefinitely. Today, the treaty has 191 signatories. North Korea withdrew from it in 2003, while India, Pakistan, and Israel have never joined it.