Five Nuclear Powers Jointly Announce Statement to Prevent Nuclear War... "No Winners"

Announcement Ahead of US-Russia Security Talks on the 10th... Expectations for Tension Reduction

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] The leaders of the five nuclear-armed powers?the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France?have issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war and banning arms races. This move is interpreted as a measure to ease tensions ahead of security talks between the U.S. and Russia over the Ukraine issue.

On the 3rd (local time), the White House announced in a statement that "U.S. President Joe Biden, Chinese President Xi Jinping, Russian President Vladimir Putin, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and French President Emmanuel Macron have issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war and banning arms races," adding that "the leaders agreed in the joint statement to prioritize preventing war among nuclear-armed states and reducing strategic risks."

The five leaders further emphasized in the joint statement that "nuclear war must never happen, and no one can win," and "because nuclear use has widespread consequences, nuclear weapons should exist solely for defensive purposes to deter aggression and prevent war. We strongly believe that further nuclear proliferation must be stopped."

The statement was originally scheduled to be announced at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference set to be held in New York on the 4th, but as the conference was postponed due to COVID-19, the joint statement was released in advance. The five countries issuing the statement are recognized as nuclear-armed states under the NPT and are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (P5). Through this joint statement, they agreed to pursue early cessation of nuclear arms races and negotiations on nuclear disarmament.

Notably, Russia, which is at odds with the West over the Ukraine issue, emphasized that it actively proposed this joint statement. According to Russia's TASS news agency, Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said at a press conference following the release of the joint statement, "This statement was prepared through Russia's proposal and the active participation of Russian representatives."

Given that Russia and China, who are confronting the U.S., have voiced a unified stance with the West through this joint statement, it is expected to contribute to easing tensions and fostering a dialogue atmosphere.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.