NPT Review Conference Ends without Final Document

New York, May 22 (Jiji Press)–The 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, ended Friday without a final document, with talks breaking down for the third consecutive meeting. While participants had engaged in a four-week-long discussion at the U.N. headquarters in New York, they failed to reach a consensus amid differing views over nuclear disarmament. The last time nations came together to adopt a final document, which requires unanimous approval, was at the 2010 NPT review conference, with both the 2015 and 2022 meetings ending without agreement. Do Hung Viet, Vietnam’s U.N. ambassador who chaired the latest meeting, said that it was very regrettable that the meeting did not reach a consensus. He stopped short of putting a draft outcome document to a vote. The draft document had been revised repeatedly and conflicting items had been deleted, but the phrase urging Iran not to pursue, develop or acquire nuclear weapons had remained on hold until the very end. On the last day, negotiations involving representatives of the United States and Iran and the chair continued until the last minute, but they failed to reach agreement. In a statement, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said that the latest meeting ending without a final document was “extremely regrettable.” “As divisions within the international community over nuclear disarmament continue to deepen, it remains crucial to maintain and strengthen the NPT, in which both nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states participate,” the statement said. “Japan seeks to continue to steadily and persistently advance, one step at a time, realistic and practical efforts toward realizing a world without nuclear weapons,” he added. The NPT is based on three pillars–nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It recognizes the five nuclear-weapon states–Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States–while obligating them to engage in good-faith negotiations toward nuclear disarmament. The latest conference was held amid a tense international situation, with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict. The next meeting will be held in 2031. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]