‘There is no consensus’: Russia blocks UN nuclear nonproliferation treaty

Weeks of work reviewing the 50-year-old United Nations’ Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was put on hold after Russia blocked agreement on the final document. On Friday, the deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department said “there is no consensus on this document.” He insisted many countries — not just Russia — didn’t agree with “a whole host of issues” in the document.

“Completely do not agree that only one delegation has objections on the text. Many other delegations have objections too,” Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department, said. “If there is such a wish we are ready to sit here longer and try, nevertheless, find some common ground. But if there is no such wish, we simply need to state that there is no consensus and that delegations not one delegation, but delegations plural cannot adopt the draft that was presented.”

Meanwhile, the United States and dozens of other countries issued a joint statement warning of the threat posed by Russia’s takeover of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. The timing of Russia at war and blocking a nuclear treaty raised concerns throughout the UN.

“We condemn the interference of the representatives of the Russian Federation in the (power plant’s) operations and efforts to extend the Russian Federation’s control over the plant,” said the joint statement. “We demand that Russia immediately withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine and hand back full control of (the power plant), as well as of all nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, to the proper Ukrainian authorities in order to ensure their safe and secure operations.”

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty was first signed in 1968. According to the UN, it is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament.