RUSSIAN Minister of Foreign affairs, Sergey Lavrov said his country is committed to support international peace and security by preventing Nuclear Weapons.

He explained this recently as the world marks the 75^th anniversary of the United Nations and 50^th anniversary of Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

Lavrov (pictured) said, Kremlin is happy that in the 20th century the world did its best to ensure strategic stability which prevented tragedies.

“Regrettably we remember that nearly 75 years ago, by dropping nuclear bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US became the only State to have ever used that most horrible weapon and triggered the nuclear arms race the effects of which still linger. Yet, we need to underline that in the second half of the 20th century we joined efforts in ensuring strategic stability and preventing such tragedies,” he said.

He, however, said during this century there are dangerous and destructive trends which are caused by the resurgence of foreign policy which one state has been accumulating, giving an example of the year 2002 when the United States of America (USA) withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty.

Lavrov described this as not good to the whole ACDNP, saying Washington withdraw from the treaty due to its desire to dominate the globe and impose its rules at the expense of the interests of other nations and international law.

The Russian top official went further to say that, last year the US denounced INF Treaty and immediately Washington conducted a flight test of military weapons and also it (USA) declared its intentions to place such systems in various parts of the world.

“During this century dangerous and destructive trends caused by the resurgence of the aggressive foreign-policy egocentrism of one state have been accumulating, Washington’s withdrawal in 2002 from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, this treaty was crucial for strategic stability, and USA action was a heavy blow to the entire ACDNP,” he said.

Lavrov said, his country in the first place stated that it would be forced to take symmetrical steps, but it later exercised the highest degree of responsibility and committed itself unilaterally not to deploy any ground -based intermediate and shorter -range missiles in the regions where the USA systems will not appear.

The Russian official said his country is aware of plans to undermine the credibility of its initiative and reminded the CD members that his country proposed to dispel suspicious through elaboration of possible verification regime for mutual moratorium, saying Ignoring this honest offer means that true causes of the INF destruction have nothing to do with Russian position and actions.

He also disclosed that America, France and NATO have plans to place weapons in outer space and he asked CD members to develop measures which are acceptable to prevent confrontation in the outer space.

He urged the US and its allies to declare the same moratorium.

According to Lavrov, President Vladimir Putin offered the USA to extend the new treaty without any precondition but to date Washing-ton has not responded.

The Russian Foreign affairs minister disclosed that 18 month ago Russia suggested to the USA to ease the artificial tension and leave the door open for further strategic dialogue.

To show its commitment, Lavrov said, last year in November, his country played a major role in convening the conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction as well as their Delivery Systems.

He said currently there is a need of effective solution to any crisis as if all parties are involved and demonstrate genuine willingness to hear each other, solutions will  be found, but he lamented on the USA refusal to comply with its international obligations which are on the United Nations (UN) Charter and also some European countries to implement the nuclear treaty.

Lavrov also defended actions taken by Iran to suspend the implementation of exclusively voluntary restrictions and said Tehran has been complying with legal obligations under the NPT and IAEA.

He went on to say that his country is disappointed with Western countries’ actions to transform once successful professional multilateral disarmament structures into a means of pressure on some states and said last year the USA denied visas to head and members of the Russian delegation who were to attend the UN meeting on disarmament.

Lavrov said these developments lead to further divisions within the international community and distract its attention from real international security problems and called upon US colleagues to return to a normal track of respectful interstate dialogue and interaction in accordance with the UN Charter.

He urged that it is important for all to demonstrate political will to find solutions acceptable to all so as to reach a consensus on the start of negotiations, saying such multilateral cooperation in solving global problems is what the UN founding fathers looked forward.

The Russian official further called upon UNSC permanent members to play a special unifying role in developing updated and up-to-date proposals to ensure stability on the planet based on the UN Charter saying this is a critical stage and they must exercise their utmost responsibility for maintaining international peace and security.

He also reminded the conference that his county president Vladimir Putin invited his colleagues to hold a P5 UNSC summit which he said would be a starting point for pivotal decisions in the interests of the entire international community said the reaction to Putin invitation is encouraging.

The Guardian

Tuesday, March 24, 2020