For the first time, the United Nations adopted a treaty prohibiting the possession and use of nuclear weapons.
But the passage of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons came with a major catch: All of the world’s nine nuclear-armed countries, including the U.S., boycotted the vote.
These countries (the U.S., Russia, North Korea, China, the United Kingdom, France, Israel, India, and Pakistan) considered the effort useless and poorly timed at a moment when North Korea is threatening to strike the U.S. with a nuclear-tipped missile.
Nikki Haley, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N., criticized the proposed treaty in March when it was being negotiated. “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” she said, “but we have to be realistic.”
In a joint statement released after the treaty was adopted, the United States, Britain and France said the effort “disregards the realities of the international security environment,” citing North Korea in particular.
“We do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it,” the nations wrote, adding that they intend to stay committed to disarmament via the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Of those who did vote, 122 nations approved the treaty, including Iran, and one country, the Netherlands, opposed it. Singapore abstained.
The treaty says that all ratifying nations should never “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”
Member states can sign the treaty starting on Sept. 20 during the annual General Assembly, and it will enter into legal force if it is ratified by 50 countries.
