Russia opposes the termination of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, and supports expanding the scope of participation of this treaty globally.
Information shared by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov in an interview with TASS on April 1.
“We certainly do not support the abolition of the NPT. That would be a step that is both unreasonable and completely contrary to our policy to strengthen international security. We support efforts to expand the number of treaty member states,” Mr. Ryabkov emphasized.
Regarding Iran's recent mention of considering withdrawing from the treaty, Mr. Ryabkov emphasized, "no one can be indifferent" to the moves that the US and Israel are pursuing. According to him, recent developments in this region are "extremely worrying".
We are witnessing successive attacks on the non-proliferation mechanism of nuclear weapons, which is considered unshakable," the Russian diplomat said.
Regarding the US and Israel, he noted, "one of the two countries is not a NPT member, while the other is a reservationary of the treaty".
According to Mr. Ryabkov, the developments of the US-Israel and Iran conflict are "basically weakening the core principles of the international security structure - the foundation that the NPT and related monitoring mechanisms of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) are built on".
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was signed in June 1968, effective from March 1970, to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and reduce the risk of nuclear-related conflicts. There are currently 191 countries participating in the treaty, however, some countries, including Israel, do not participate in this framework.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov's comments were made after Mr. Alaeddin Boroujerdi - a member of the Iranian National Security and Foreign Policy Committee - said that Iran's participation in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons has become meaningless after the actions of the US and Israel. Mr. Alaeddin Boroujerdi proposed that Tehran should consider withdrawing from the treaty and this view received the consensus of the majority of Iranian parliamentarians.
