NATO will seek to encourage China and Russia to sign a nuclear treaty

2023-04-17 22:28:03

NATO Director of Nuclear Policy, Jessica Cox, highlighted on Monday the importance of creating incentives for countries like Russia, China or North Korea to be willing to sign nuclear arms control treaties.

“We want to get back to a point where we have stability and we have to think about other mechanisms, it can’t just be binding treaties because Russia, China, North Korea and many other countries don’t want to sign binding arms control treaties right now.”he stated at an event held in Washington.

So, he added, “We have to think about what we can do in the absence of binding, negotiated arms control to try to build that strategic stability into the system, until we can create the conditions where those countries see arms control again in their interest”.

Therefore, it is necessary to evaluate “what kinds of things can we do as the US and NATO to try to encourage those countries to come to the negotiating table.”

Cox participated in an event organized by Howard University in which he defended the existence of nuclear arms control treaties.

“We shouldn’t always seek to replicate what we did in the past,” but you have to think about “what kinds of things are really important for the future kinds of gun control we want to see,” given that “a world without restrictions does not interest us”he added.

In his speech, he referred to the war in Ukraine and insisted that NATO’s priority remains to ensure that Ukraine “have what it takes to win the war” and encourage the country to be well positioned for when it can enter into negotiations with Russia “As soon as that is possible and feasible.”

“This is going to be a long conflict and we are really focused on what we can do to support Ukraine.”he claimed.

The event was also attended by the Undersecretary for Arms Control and International Security of the Department of State, Bonnie D. Jenkins, who stated that “The United States firmly believes that multilateralism and international cooperation are essential to effectively counter the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.”

“As President Joe Biden has said, at this time of intense and clear political tension, diplomacy remains an essential part of safeguarding the security of the United States and our allies, as well as global stability.“, he pointed out.

This event took place one day before the opening of the Conference on Arms Control, Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction of the Atlantic Alliance to be held in Washington and in which NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will participate , and the US Under Secretary of State, Wendy Sherman.