Zakharova Says P5 Statement on Preventing Nuclear War Was a Russian Initiative

Jan. 4, 2022 (EIRNS)—In a statement issued Jan. 3, regarding that day’s joint statement issued by the five nuclear weapons states—China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, and United States—which are also the permanent members of the UN Security Council, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said:

“This document was formulated on our initiative and with the most active participation of Russian representatives. Its release was supposed to coincide with the start of Tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. It had been scheduled to open in New York on Jan. 4, but was postponed due to the worsening epidemiological situation in the United States. Nevertheless, given the importance and self-sufficiency of this joint statement, the nuclear powers decided not to delay its publication,”

TASS quoted her saying. She emphasized that Moscow welcomes the agreement, and, as the P5 state, strongly believes there can be no winners in a nuclear war, and therefore one should never be unleashed.

She went on: “The statement highlights an important idea for us, that any war—whether nuclear or conventional—between nuclear-armed states is inadmissible,” and “that their nuclear weapons are not targeted at each other or at any third countries.” She indicated that

“We expect that amid the current challenging international security environment, the endorsement of such a political statement by the leaders of nuclear powers will help to reduce international tensions, curb the arms race, help build confidence and shape the basis for future control over offensive and defensive arms in their interconnection, as well as risk reduction measures,”

Also responding to questions from TASS yesterday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov explained that the P5 statement “was negotiated through diplomatic channels and the text fully reflects the positions of both its signatories in general and each leader in particular.”

TASS also asked about whether it were possible to indicate a time frame for a potential summit of the five powers—which President Vladimir Putin had first internationally proffered at an event in Jerusalem on Jan. 23, 2020, commemorating the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz—but Peskov remarked that “there are no dates yet.”