BRUSSELS — NATO member countries will restate their support for the world’s primary nuclear non-proliferation treaty as nuclear control efforts come increasingly under strain, three NATO diplomats told POLITICO.
Ambassadors from the military alliance’s 32 members on Monday approved an official statement that will reiterate its backing for atomic arms control and the U.N.-backed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), according to the diplomats, granted anonymity to speak freely.
The 1968 NPT aims to prevent non-nuclear countries from acquiring atomic weapons and encourages nuclear-armed states to pursue disarmament efforts. It counts 191 signatories, including five nuclear-armed states.
NATO routinely reiterates support for the treaty, but the new statement comes ahead of a weekslong U.N.-linked review conference of the agreement in New York at the end of April. The pact has come under unprecedented pressure from growing geopolitical disputes, growing fears around Chinese nuclear armament and Russia’s all-out war in Ukraine.
In recent months, France has said it would increase the size of its nuclear arsenal as it enters early-stage talks with other European countries to extend its deterrent in response to Russian aggression — even as Paris insists this does not violate the NPT.
Meanwhile, the U.S. refused to extend New START, its 2010 bilateral nuclear arms control pact with Moscow, in February. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also repeatedly engaged in nuclear saber-rattling since the beginning of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
The review conference, from Apr. 27 to May 22, will gather countries to assess compliance with the treaty and aim to find a consensus on a final document.
Laura Kayali contributed to this report.
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