The leaders of the five largest nuclear powers and permanent members of the UN Security Council have recently reaffirmed that nuclear weapons – as their use would have far-reaching and global consequences – must “serve defensive purposes, deter aggression and prevent war”.
The USA, Russia, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, China and France have published a joint declaration on preventing nuclear war and avoiding an arms race, according to a document published on the Kremlin’s website on January 3. According to the joint document, they consider “the prevention of wars between nuclear weapon states and the reduction of strategic risks to be the most important responsibilities”. And further: “We reaffirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be waged.”
Against further proliferation of nuclear weapons
The leaders of the five nuclear powers “firmly believe” that the further proliferation of such weapons must be prevented. “We reaffirm the importance of countering nuclear threats and emphasize the importance of preserving and adhering to our bilateral and multilateral non-proliferation, disarmament and arms control agreements and commitments.” In particular, the document continues, “the major nuclear powers remain committed to nuclear non-proliferation (NPT)”. This applies “including the obligation under Article VI to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures for the early cessation of the nuclear arms race and for nuclear disarmament and for the achievement of a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control”. 
Not aligned
“We all intend to maintain and further strengthen our national measures to prevent the unauthorized or unintended use of nuclear weapons. We reaffirm the validity of our previous declarations on target reduction and reaffirm that none of our nuclear weapons are aimed at each other or at any other state,” the five leaders asserted. Their joint statement underlines their “desire to work with all states to create a security environment more conducive to progress on disarmament, with the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons with undiminished security for all”. “We intend to continue to seek bilateral and multilateral diplomatic approaches to avoid military confrontation, enhance stability and predictability, strengthen mutual understanding and trust, and prevent an arms race that would benefit no one and endanger all. We are determined to engage in constructive dialog with mutual respect and recognition of each other’s security interests and concerns,” the statement also reads. NTP Review Conference
The tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was scheduled for January 2022, but was postponed to a later date due to the spread of the Omicron variant of Covid-19. Diplomatic sources believe that the conference could take place from August 1 to 26, 2022. This agreement, also known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, was signed in 1968. It legalized the nuclear arsenals of the United Kingdom, Russia, China, France and the United States and confirmed their status as nuclear weapons states. Other states undertook “to refrain from developing or acquiring nuclear weapons”. The treaty was signed by more than 190 countries. India, Pakistan and Israel remained outside the treaty from the outset, while North Korea withdrew from it in 2003. Disarmament initiatives remain sceptical
Alongside many other organizations, the Nobel Peace Prize organization “International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War” (IPPNW) also welcomed the declaration of the five nuclear powers, which recognizes the nuclear threat as existential for the future of the global community.
“Unfortunately, however, the nuclear powers are currently focusing in unison on a qualitative upgrade of all nuclear weapons systems on land, at sea and in the air. Simply preventing the further proliferation of nuclear weapons will not solve the global problems,” says IPPNW Chairman Lars Pohlmeier. The so-called “modernization” of nuclear weapons systems must also be stopped. The IPPNW is therefore calling on the nuclear weapons and NATO member states to enter into serious and verifiable disarmament negotiations in the run-up to the conference to review the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This also includes no longer opposing the – not to be confused – International Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which came into force in January of last year. Furthermore, a concrete timetable must be drawn up as to when the aforementioned states will become parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 59 states have already joined the treaty, including Austria and Ireland in Europe. Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland will participate as observers at the first conference in Vienna in March 2022.
China: “Just not so fast”
Just one day after the publication of the document, the “cozy unity” of the declaration was weakened again: In Beijing, the Director General of the Arms Control Department of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Fu Cong, hosted a briefing and explained that the People’s Republic was by no means expanding its nuclear arsenal as rapidly as the Pentagon in Washington, for example, believed. “Regarding the claims by US officials that China is dramatically expanding its nuclear capabilities, I would first like to say that this is untrue. Rather, what is true is that China has taken steps to modernize its nuclear forces to bring its nuclear deterrent to the minimum level necessary for national defense.” He also refused to confirm the existence of more than 200 new missile silos in the north-western Chinese region of Xinjiang, saying only that “the size of China’s nuclear arsenal should not be estimated on the basis of satellite imagery”. It is important to “understand that the People’s Republic is in a changing security environment in Asia and therefore must have sufficient nuclear weapons”. This is especially true in light of the fact that the United States is planning to deploy non-nuclear medium-range missiles in the region, Fu Cong continued. “And India also has nuclear weapons, as does Pakistan.”
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