UNITED NATIONS听–听US President Joe听叠颈诲别苍听said on Monday he is ready to pursue a new听苍耻肠濒别补谤听补谤尘蝉听deal with Russia and called on Moscow to act in good faith as his Russian counterpart Vladimir听笔耻迟颈苍听said there could be no winners in any听苍耻肠濒别补谤听war.
Both leaders issued written statements as diplomats gathered for a month-long UN conference to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of听狈耻肠濒别补谤听Weapons (NPT). It was supposed to聽have taken聽place in 2020, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It occurs at a time of听苍耻肠濒别补谤听danger not seen since the height of the Cold War,” UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the conference. “Humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from听苍耻肠濒别补谤听annihilation.”
He warned that crises “with听苍耻肠濒别补谤听under迟辞苍别蝉听are festering,” citing the Middle East, North Korea and Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Within days of Russia’s Feb. 24 invasion, Mr. Putin put the country’s deterrence forces – which include听苍耻肠濒别补谤听补谤尘蝉听– on high alert, citing what he called aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions against Moscow.
叠耻迟听颈苍听a letter to participants at the NPT review conference, Mr. Put颈苍听wrote: “There can be no winners in a听苍耻肠濒别补谤听war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community.”聽
础谤尘蝉听control has traditionally been an area聽in which聽global progress has been possible despite wider disagreements. The UN conference takes place five months after Russia invaded Ukraine and as US-China tensions flare over Taiwan, the self-ruled island claimed by Beijing.
TIME WASHINGTON “MADE UP ITS MIND”
Moscow and Washington last year extended their New听厂罢础搁罢听treaty, which caps the number of strategic听苍耻肠濒别补谤听warheads they can deploy and limits the land- and submarine-based missiles and bombers to deliver them, until 2026.
“My Administration is ready to expeditiously negotiate a new聽补谤尘蝉听control framework to replace New听厂罢础搁罢听when it expires in 2026,” Mr. Biden聽said. “But negotiation requires a willing partner operating in good faith.”
“Russia should demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on听苍耻肠濒别补谤听补谤尘蝉听control with the United States,” he said.
But Russia’s mission to the United Nations questioned if the United States was ready to negotiate, accusing Washington of withdrawing from听迟补濒办蝉听with Moscow on strategic stability over the Ukraine conflict.
“It is high time Washington made up its mind, stopped rushing around, and told us frankly what it is that they want 鈥 escalate the situation in the area of international security or embark on equal negotiations,” Russia’s UN mission said in a statement.
Mr. Biden聽also called on China “to engage in听迟补濒办蝉听that will reduce the risk of miscalculation and address destabilizing military dynamics.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the听鲍.狈.听conference that Washington was committed to seeking a comprehensive risk reduction package that would include secure communications channels among听苍耻肠濒别补谤听weapon states.
“We stand ready to work with all partners, including China and others, on risk reduction and strategic stability efforts,” he said.
Mr. Blinken also said a ret耻谤苍听to the 2015听苍耻肠濒别补谤听deal remains the best outcome for the United States, Iran and the world, and again accused North Korea of preparing for a seventh听苍耻肠濒别补谤听迟别蝉迟.听
Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida urged all听苍耻肠濒别补谤听states to conduct themselves “responsibly.” Kishida is from Hiroshima, which on Aug. 6, 1945, became the first city in the world to suffer a听苍耻肠濒别补谤听产辞尘产颈苍驳.听
“The world is worried that the threat of the catastrophe of use of听苍耻肠濒别补谤听weapons has emerged once again,” he told the conference. “It must be said that the path to a world without听苍耻肠濒别补谤听weapons has suddenly become even harder.” – Reuters
