Spring talks in Europe eyed for U.N. nuclear non-proliferation pact

The president-designate of a U.N. conference on nuclear nonproliferation is exploring the possibility of holding the gathering in Europe in the spring, moving up the timeline from his earlier proposal of convening the session in August, diplomatic sources said Tuesday.

Gustavo Zlauvinen, who will head the upcoming review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, known as the NPT, is eyeing the move based on requests from some member states for an early gathering.

Screenshot image taken Sept. 30, 2020, shows Gustavo Zlauvinen, president-designate of the 2020 review conference for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, giving an online interview. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

The NPT, joined by about 190 countries, is the world’s most widely ratified nuclear arms control agreement. Its review conferences involving both nuclear and non-nuclear states, as well as atomic-bombing survivors and civic groups, had been held every five years since 1975, with the last gathering in 2015.

The subsequent meeting has been delayed repeatedly from the spring of 2020 as originally planned due to the coronavirus pandemic.

According to the sources, Zlauvinen is considering countries such as Austria, the Netherlands and Switzerland as candidates to host the event, following the first meeting of signatories to a U.N. treaty banning nuclear weapons slated for March in Vienna.

Zlauvinen indicated he wants to arrange a possible conference schedule and meeting venue with European countries during a consultation with NPT member states on Tuesday.

But the schedule remains fluid, as some NPT member states prefer to gather in New York where each country has a U.N. delegation, the sources added.

Non-nuclear states prefer deep discussions with nuclear states at in-person gatherings.

The NPT requires the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — to commit to nuclear disarmament.

Among four other nuclear-weapon states, India, Israel and Pakistan have not joined the pact, while North Korea pulled out of the treaty in 2003.

The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which bans the development, possession, testing and use of such arms, took effect in January of last year.

None of the nuclear-weapon states have joined the nuclear ban treaty, and Japan, the only country to have suffered nuclear bombings, has refrained from signing the pact due to its security reliance on U.S. nuclear forces.