“Today’s deteriorating security environment poses challenges relevant to the NPT, as proliferation crises continue and escalate,” the Organization stated in a press release, emphasizing that the agreement has succeeded in curbing the spread of such weapons and that it is “essential to the global disarmament architecture.”
In this regard, NATO accused Russia of “violating crucial arms control commitments” and resorting to “threatening nuclear rhetoric,” and noted that China “continues to rapidly expand and diversify its nuclear arsenal without transparency.”
“Both have increased ties with States that seek to proliferate nuclear weapons and undermine international arms control. Allies strongly encourage the United States’ pursuit of multilateral strategic stability,” the text states, emphasizing that “as long as nuclear weapons exist, NATO will remain a nuclear alliance.”
“The fundamental purpose of NATO’s nuclear capability is to preserve peace, prevent coercion, and deter aggression. Allies have always adhered to their obligations under the NPT and continue to do so. NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements have been key in preventing proliferation, one of the NPT’s core goals,” it added.
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In this regard, the allies reiterated their rejection of “any attempt to delegitimize nuclear deterrence” and insisted that the agreement “does not change the legal obligations on our countries with respect to nuclear weapons.” “Allies are resolved to contribute to the preservation, universalisation, and full implementation of the NPT,” they stated.
“Allies continue to support all the objectives of the Treaty, including Article VI, with a view towards worldwide verifiable elimination of nuclear weapons, based on the principle of undiminished security for all,” the NATO statement concluded.
