A major United Nations conference aimed at advancing global nuclear disarmament and preventing the spread of nuclear weapons has ended without reaching any agreement, despite four weeks of intensive negotiations among member states.
The conference formally concluded in failure on Friday (May 22), according to its president, Do Hung Viet of Vietnam.
“Despite our best efforts, it is my assessment that the conference has not been able to reach consensus on its substantive work,” Viet said. He added that he had no intention of putting the proposed draft document forward for adoption.
The meeting reviewed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), widely regarded as the cornerstone of global nuclear arms control, at a time of growing fears over a renewed global arms race.
Previous NPT review conferences held in 2015 and 2022 had also ended without agreement.
Amid low expectations, participants debated a proposal that had been repeatedly revised and weakened during negotiations. In the end, delegates failed to adopt even the final diluted draft.
Experts say that although the treaty itself remains in force, the failure of the review conference for a third consecutive time has further undermined the credibility and effectiveness of the NPT framework.
Richard Gowan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the proposed documents are increasingly disconnected from the realities of current conflicts and nuclear proliferation risks.
The final draft reportedly included a controversial and bracketed section calling on Iran not to develop nuclear weapons, signaling a lack of consensus among participating states.
According to AFP, the latest version of the draft merely stated that Tehran “must never be allowed” to acquire nuclear weapons.
References expressing concern over North Korea’s nuclear program and calls for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula were also removed from the draft text.
In addition, a direct appeal urging the United States and Russia to begin negotiations on a successor agreement to the New START arms control treaty was dropped from the document. The treaty, which had limited the nuclear arsenals of both countries, expired in February.
Héloïse Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations noted that even the softened draft still contained warnings about the risk of renewed nuclear testing by Russia, China, and the United States, growing nuclear stockpiles, and possible attacks on nuclear infrastructure.
Source: AFP