INTERVIEW: U.N. Official Calls for Concessions at NPT Review Meeting

New York, April 23 (Jiji Press)–Signatories to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty need to make concessions to avoid failing to adopt an outcome document at a review conference for the third straight time, Izumi Nakamitsu, U.N. high representative for disarmament affairs, said in a recent interview with Jiji Press. There is growing sentiment in Europe and elsewhere that possessing nuclear weapons is necessary for national security, Nakamitsu said, arguing that the risk of nuclear weapon use may grow if an agreement is not reached at the upcoming review conference set to start on Monday. “We must prevent the hollowing out of the treaty by all means,” said Nakamitsu, U.N. undersecretary-general. Adopting a document requires the consensus of all 191 signatory countries and regions. The review conference comes at a time when the global landscape for nuclear disarmament has become increasingly unstable due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the conflict in Iran and the expiration of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, which was the last remaining disarmament framework between the United States and Russia. Nakamitsu said that the Japanese government can utilize its close relationship with the United States to reach an agreement at the conference, in addition to sharing the reality of the horrors of the atomic bomb. She said she hopes that Japan will tell the United States “as its ally that the NPT is important for U.S. security.” The senior U.N. official acknowledged the difficulty in producing a comprehensive outcome document as in past conferences. But she said that signatories may be able to strike an agreement on a document that calls for strengthening the process of reviewing the treaty’s implementation. “It would be significant” if signatories affirm that maintaining the NPT regime is extremely important for the security of all countries, she said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]