Putin Calls for Building a Nuclear-Free World

Moscow (ANTARA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his speech for the 11th NPT Review Conference on Wednesday (29/4), stated that Russia, as a responsible party and one of the depositories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), strictly adheres to the content and spirit of the treaty.

“We believe that amid the current complex international situation, additional multilateral efforts are needed to create conditions for further progress in the process of building a world free from nuclear weapons, while firmly upholding the principle of not sacrificing the security of any party,” Putin said.

Putin’s statement was read by Ambassador at Large of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Andrey Ivanovich Belousov, at the conference taking place at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

Russia, as one of the leaders in nuclear energy, is ready to develop cooperation in this field with interested NPT parties, the statement revealed.

Moscow believes that states that sincerely fulfil their NPT obligations are entitled to access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without undue restrictions, the statement said.

Putin emphasised the need for greater efforts to create conditions for progress towards a world free from nuclear weapons in the midst of a challenging global security environment.

Russia hopes that the conference will be productive and contribute to the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The 11th NPT Review Conference opened on Monday (27/4) and will run until 22 May.