On Monday, the leaders of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council — the US, Russia, China, Britain, and France — released a joint statement that said a nuclear war must never be fought.
The five powers said the “avoidance of war between Nuclear-Weapon States and the reduction of strategic risks as our foremost responsibilities.”
“We affirm that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. As nuclear use would have far-reaching consequences, we also affirm that nuclear weapons — for as long as they continue to exist — should serve defensive purposes, deter aggression, and prevent war,” the statement said.
While the leaders said nuclear weapons should only be used for “defensive” purposes, China and India are currently the only nuclear-armed states with a no-first-use policy.
The statement said the “spread of such weapons must be prevented” and that the powers were committed to obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
Specifically, the powers said they were committed to the NPT’s Article VI obligation to “pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”
The past few years have not been good for arms control. Since the US withdrew from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and the Open Skies Treaty, there is currently only one major piece of arms control between the US and Russia, known as the New START. The US and Russia are expected to discuss arms control during planned security talks on January 10th.
I was impressed that article 6 of the NPT was reaffirmed and directly quoted, a glimmer of sober sanity in a darkness of counterproductive nuclear modernization, escalation and proliferation. The only way the US is indispensible is that we must stop leading the world off that cliff.
Not really. The use of language for these types is always instrumental, never truthful. This has to be read as PR for all of us hubshi the world over; and, an outside chance of lulling “the other” into relaxing his guard. In the event the Empire will indubitably say “the other” started it.
Additionally, the elites are hearing from their brain trusts that they can survive it.
I hope so but doubt it. Too many lunatics in the world.
Aw, frack, we’re DOOMED, DOOOOMED!!!!!
They made it an official government statement even.
An OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT STATEMENT!!!!!
From five official nuclear-armed governments.
Oh, we’re so fracking gonna-fry-in-radioactive-fire SCREWWWWED!
“Frack” makes an excellent explanative! I think will start engaging it in my daily vocabulary. Thanks!
I feel totally “fracked”!
‘Frack’ was used by the classic Battlestar Galactica TV series.
Ten minutes later all five countries had closed door meetings on how they can do a first strike and survive.
If it happens, it’ll be another high level extinction event on par with the Chicxulub asteroid that wiped out the Dinosaurs 🦕, making us the most insane creature to have ever walked the Earth. That’ll no doubtlessly be the the view of those watching us since Trinity. 👽
The only way there will not be a nuclear war in the future, is to dest0ry all nuclear weapons, and that is not going to happen.
As the brilliant Donald Trump once stated ” Why do we have these weapons, if we are not going to use them”
First use of these weapons would obviously be the biggest crime against humanity ever.
Even defensive use of these weapons (like at the threat of annihilation) would be mad.
In fact, there is no condition under which use of these weapons would be a positive outcome, even for the “winning” party.
Now, I understand that the existence of these weapons is said to have kept the peace during the Cold War. But it should not take that many of them to continue to meet this purpose. China’s arsenal of about 50-100 is plenty for terror purposes. Why does any nation have any more?
So I’ll take these guys seriously if they start negotiating to reduce to 20-50 weapons each … everything else is BS.
it is guesstimated that China has more than 300 Nukes, but remember China isnt sailing Aircraft Carriers up and down other countries coastlines and neither is Russia. For those who make the comment of the South China Seas, be aware that the Straights of Malacca are the Choke point and that is where about 500 Chinese ships sail through on a daily basis. Indonesia and Singapore control those straights, both US Allies its alternate routes are through two other entrances in the Indonesian Islands or right around southern Australia and up the Eastern Coast. The Islands in the South China sea are in fact early warning of a blockade of that straight by the US. Taiwan effectively blockades the rest of the Chinese Coast.
Back in the 1990s after the first cold war ended US and former Soviet Generals came together, I heard words like this happened at one meeting. US General to a Russian General: “What kind of man do you think would start a nuclear war” Russian General to US General: “A madman”.
https://journal-neo.org/2022/01/04/the-meaning-of-the-declaration-of-the-end-of-the-korean-war-in-the-current-environment/
Declaration Of The End Of the Korean War.
It’s difficult to conceive that South Korea would be fearful of North Korea’s nuclear weapons after concluding a peace agreement.
If the US pulled out its military contingent, North Korea would have concerns over the Pentagon’s nuclear weapons stored at US bases in Japan.
No interested observer and certainly not the Japanese are anticipating or expecting a US pullout after 77 years of occupation.
China’s greatest weapon is its domestic construction and real estate industries. It’s difficult to launch or export that.