Statements by the US regarding the possibility of using nuclear weapons, as well as the practice of joint NATO nuclear missions lead to a conclusion that any justification for the use of such weapons can be expected from the North Atlantic Alliance, Russian Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva Andrey Belousov said on Wednesday in his speech at the conference of states parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The diplomat said that the final declaration of the NATO summit in Madrid finally confirmed the alliance's status as a nuclear military-political bloc. "The NPT community has yet to analyze the consequences of this circumstance, which forces a different view on the status of non-nuclear members of the bloc, especially those where US nuclear weapons are stationed," he noted.
Belousov also said that joint NATO nuclear missions where non-nuclear weapon states participate raise similar questions. "We have repeatedly heard statements that this practice does not contradict the NPT, and that such missions were allegedly agreed upon during the preparation of the treaty. We consider such arguments to be nothing more than excuses to justify actions that run counter to key provisions of the NPT," he stressed.
"If one sums up all these facts, the conclusion is that NATO member states can always justify any use of nuclear weapons in the future," the diplomat said. - "By the way, there is every reason for such a conclusion. US doctrinal documents prescribe the use of nuclear weapons under the pretext of a threat to their own vital interests or those of their allies."
An analysis of this thesis leads to the idea that the United States has reserved the possibility of using nuclear weapons at any time, for any reason and against any state, simply by saying that their vital interests are affected. And this is the real threat of nuclear war. Especially since the US remains the only state that has used its nuclear weapons in real terms.
In a speech to the NPT conference on August 1, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pointed out that the US might consider using nuclear weapons only if there are credible threats to itself or its allies.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Official website of NATO
Based on materials from TASS