Ukraine invasion revives nuclear war nightmare

In August, a joint declaration by 191 countries at a UN conference on the future of the NPT was blocked by Russia at the last minute.

A French diplomat reported “extraordinarily aggressive nuclear rhetoric” from Moscow and “disdain” for the treaty.

“We saw a break in the attitude of Russia, which has historically been supportive of the NPT,” the diplomat said.

The diplomat said China was “very vocal”, offering “very crude condemnation” of the US-UK-Australia AUKUS Pacific alliance, which will deliver nuclear-powered submarines to Canberra.

Beijing claimed that the alliance risked further nuclear proliferation, while “failing to address doubts about the vagueness of its own nuclear doctrine or the pace of growing its arsenal”.

The invasion of Ukraine, a country that voluntarily gave up nuclear weapons, by its nuclear-armed neighbor has raised fears of proliferation.

“Today, countries like Japan or South Korea can legitimately ask whether” they need a bomb of their own, said Jean-Louis Lozier, the former head of France’s nuclear forces.

“The same is true in the Middle East of Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Egypt,” he added.

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