International tensions are skyrocketing – The declaration comes at a very delicate moment, with the growing tensions between the White House and the Kremlin over the crisis on the eastern border of Ukraine and with Washington’s concerns about Beijing’s increasingly explicit expansionist aims, starting with the threat that weighs about Taiwan. It is signed by the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council: the USA, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and China, sowing a seed of detente among the powers.
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To curb the spread of nuclear weapons – The big five thus undertake to “prevent the further spread” of nuclear and mass destruction weapons in view of the conference on the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The meetings should have taken place in New York this month, but the heads of the UN headquarters have decided to postpone the appointment to a later date for safety reasons related to the pandemic.
The 1970 treaty – The treaty is that of 1970, to which 191 countries adhered, and extended indefinitely in 1995. By joining it, the states without nuclear weapons undertake not to build them, and in return the great powers committed themselves to a gradual disarmament. In reality, India, Pakistan and North Korea have explicitly admitted to possessing or having tested nuclear weapons, while Israel is said to be in possession of at least 200 atomic bombs even though they have never confirmed this.
Aim for a world without nuclear weapons – The goal, write the five permanent members, remains that of “a world free from nuclear weapons”. And, “considering the consequences that the use of nuclear weapons would cause, we also affirm that, as long as they exist, they must only serve defensive, deterrent and war prevention purposes. We are firmly convinced of the need to prevent the proliferation of these. weapons”.
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