Russia blocks nuclear treaty agreement over Ukraine reference

BBC News:

Russia has blocked the adoption of a joint declaration by a United Nations conference on nuclear disarmament.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which is reviewed by its 191 signatories every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

Russia objected to a draft text citing “grave concern” over military activities around Ukraine’s nuclear plants, in particular Zaporizhzhia.

Participants in the last review in 2015 also failed to reach an agreement.

The 2022 meeting, which had been due in 2020, was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The failure to agree a joint declaration followed a four-week conference in New York.

The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said she was “deeply disappointed” at the lack of agreement.

“Russia obstructed progress by refusing to compromise on proposed text accepted by all other states,” she said.

The US representative, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, said the US “deeply regrets this outcome, and even more so on Russia’s actions that led us here today”.