WEB DESK
The United States has called for more transparency as it accused Russia and China of not fully reporting their nuclear programmes amid US threats to withdraw from a key arms control treaty.
US undersecretary for arms control and international security, Andrea Thompson said there were “uneven results” in efforts to advance transparency under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
Thompson’s remark came at the meeting of five permanent P-5 members of the UN Security Council in Beijing for talks on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
She said the gap between the reports of the United States on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, is great.
Officials from Russia, China, France and Britain countries under the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) treaty also attended the meeting, which will continue till Jan 31.
The meeting comes as a major arms control treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union — the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty — is on the verge of collapse.
U.S. Undersecretary of State Andrea Thompson said in opening remarks at the meeting that there were “uneven results” in efforts to increase transparency under the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons, also known as the NPT.
“We previously agreed to set [a] format for reporting, but the gap between the reports of the United States on the one hand, and Russia and China on the other, is great,” Thompson said.
The 1987 INF Treaty bans production, testing, and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers. The agreement was the first of its kind to eliminate an entire class of missiles and is widely seen as a cornerstone of arms control stability, in Europe and elsewhere.
But Washington and NATO now accuse Russia of breaching the treaty by developing the 9M729 cruise missile, also known as the SSC-8.
Moscow denies that the missile is violating the INF treaty and accuses the United States in turn that it wants to abandon the pact so it can start a new arms race.
Attending P5 Conference in Beijing on working together to safeguard NPT Regime. Will be following up w/ China on our decision at Nov 2018 US-China Diplomatic & Security Dialogue to deepen engagement to advance shared commitment to nonproliferation of weapons of mass destruction. pic.twitter.com/k0i0aA09XN
— U/S of State for Arms Control & Int'l Security (@UnderSecT) January 30, 2019