US persuades nations to withdraw from UN's nuclear ban treaty, cites 'repercussions'

The United States is persuading other nations to withdraw support from the United Nations treaty to ban nuclear weapons as the pact is close to getting 50 ratifications, which is required to trigger its entry into force possibly this week. The news agency, Associated Press obtained the letter sent to the signatories by the US that said that the five original nuclear powers including US, Russia, China, Britain, France along with its NATO allies “stand unified in our opposition to the potential repercussions” of the treaty.

As per reports, the letter also said that the UN treaty “turns back the clock on verification and disarmament and is dangerous” to the five-decade-old  Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty which is also regarded as the foundation of the international nonproliferation efforts. 

“Although we recognize your sovereign right to ratify or accede to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), we believe that you have made a strategic error and should withdraw your instrument of ratification or accession,” the letter as quoted by AP.

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Ratifying nations to ‘never’ develop nuclear weapons

The UN treaty requires all the ratifying nations to “never” under whatsoever situation to develop or test nuclear weapons or any other nuclear explosive devices. Furthermore, as per reports, it also bans any transfer or the usage of nuclear explosives or weapons along with the threat to use such equipment. It also requires the member countries to promote the treaty in other nations. 

The treaty requires all member nations to “never under any circumstances ... develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

The executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, Beatrice Fihn, who was also the leading official to put together the nuclear ban treaty, told the news agency that her several diplomatic sources have confirmed that other ratifying nations of TPNW have received the letter by the US requesting withdrawal.

She told AP that the “increasing nervousness, and maybe straightforward panic, with some of the nuclear-armed states and particularly the Trump administration” reveals that they “really seem to understand that this is a reality: Nuclear weapons are going to be banned under international law soon.”

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Image: AP