NUCLEAR WAR ‘SHOULD NEVER BE UNLEASHED’, PUTIN SAYS

Mon 01 August 2022:

Russia’s president has warned there can be “no winners” in a nuclear war and said such a conflict should never be started.

“As a state party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and one of its depositaries, Russia is consistently complying with the letter and the spirit of the Treaty,” Putin said in a letter to participants of a conference on the treaty in New York.

“We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community,” he added.

International concern about the risk of a nuclear confrontation has heightened since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. In a speech at the time, Putin pointedly referred to Russia’s nuclear arsenal and warned outside powers against any attempt to interfere with its self-described “special military operation”.

Nuclear warheads is expected to increase

According to the data gathered by Anadolu Agency from Stockholm Institute for Peace Research (SIPRI) and other related sources, the number of nuclear warheads could rise globally.

The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed on July 1, 1968, and entered into force in 1970 to prevent an escalating nuclear arms race as the US used the first nuclear bomb in the world against Japan in World War 2.

The agreement is based on three basic principles: the prevention of nuclear proliferation, the use of nuclear energy for civilian purposes and nuclear disarmament.

Nine countries have nuclear warheads with the US and Russia owning about 90% of these warheads, which total 12,705. As of January 2022, the US has 5,428 warheads while Russia has 5,997.

China has 350 warheads, France 290, and the UK possesses 225 warheads. The list continues with Pakistan having 165, India 156, Israel 90, and North Korea 20 nuclear warheads.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

TWITTER (CLICK HERE)
https://twitter.com/IpIndependent