12 countries, including China and Brazil, warned against threats to use nuclear weapons
During the UN General Assembly’s high-level week, 12 countries, including China, Brazil, Turkey and Kazakhstan, issued a joint statement calling for an end to the use of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. The text of the statement was made public at the UN headquarters.
South Africa, Indonesia, Algeria, Bolivia, Colombia, Egypt, Kenya and Zambia joined the signatories of the statement, in addition to the countries mentioned. In the document, the states call on the world community to refrain from threats to use nuclear, chemical and biological weapons, as well as from their use. They emphasized the importance of protecting civilian infrastructure, including peaceful nuclear facilities and energy installations, which should not become targets during military operations.
The authors of the statement also advocated a comprehensive and sustainable settlement of conflicts through diplomacy and political solutions based on the principles of the UN Charter. Although Russia was not directly mentioned in the document, experts believe that the caveats may relate to recent statements by Russian President Vladimir Putin regarding possible changes in Russian nuclear doctrine. In particular, Putin proposed to expand the conditions for the use of nuclear weapons, including allowing their use in response to aggression by any non-nuclear state, if supported by a nuclear state.
These changes in doctrine have drawn considerable international criticism. US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken called such statements by Putin “irresponsible” and emphasized that they pose a threat to global security.
We will remind that this is not the first time when the Russian leadership makes statements about the possibility of using nuclear weapons. Similar rhetoric has been repeatedly voiced by Moscow, which causes serious concern in the international community and undermines global efforts to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
