Steps towards nuclear disarmament

From END Info 25 | July/August 2021 | download pdf

The German Federal Foreign Office released the following statement on 5 July 2021:

Today, Foreign Minister Maas is meeting the Swedish and Spanish Foreign Ministers in Madrid in order to call for joint steps towards nuclear disarmament prior to the Review Conference of the Non‑Proliferation Treaty.

Today’s meeting in Madrid is the fourth meeting of the foreign ministers of the Stockholm Initiative. Already in February 2020, representatives of 16 countries convened in Berlin to agree concrete proposals on nuclear disarmament.

Using positive momentum

In January this year, another meeting took place in Amman. Since then, after several setbacks in previous years, such as the end of the INF Treaty in 2019, there have been some recent positive developments.

At the beginning of the year, the United States and Russia were able to agree on an extension of the New START Treaty, which limits the strategic launchers and warheads of both countries. A meeting between US President Biden and Russia’s President Putin in Geneva on 16 June confirmed the intention of both sides to conduct further talks on arms control.

In light of new technological developments, the revival of disarmament diplomacy is urgently needed in order to pre-empt the potential risk of a new arms race. Before the meeting, Foreign Minister Maas, together with his Spanish colleague Arancha González Laya and his Swedish colleague Ann Linde, issued the following statement on this topic:

More than ever, we need to see progress. Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agreements have been continually eroded in recent years. New tensions and distrust between the global powers have thwarted further reductions in nuclear weaponry.“

Proposals for the nuclear-weapon states

The Stockholm Initiative makes proposals so that the nuclear-weapon states can take further steps towards disarmament, as set down in the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The 16 states of the Stockholm Initiative, all of them non-nuclear-weapon states from all continents, submitted 22 specific proposals in advance of the Review Conference. In this way, the Non‑Proliferation Treaty could be strengthened not least through the following stepping stones:

Continue to reduce nuclear arsenals.

Ensure the entry into force of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.

Reduce the role of nuclear weapons in strategies and doctrines.

Minimise the risk of conflict and accidental use of nuclear weapons.

Develop credible and robust nuclear disarmament verification capacities.

Unblock negotiations on a treaty prohibiting fissile material production for military purposes.

Among the 22 specific proposals not listed in the German Foreign Office press release are:

Nuclear-Weapon States, collectively or individually, to tighten Negative Security Assurances, including in the context of Treaties establishing Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones.

And:

All States to support the establishment of Nuclear Weapons-Free Zones in all regions of the world on the basis of arrangements freely arrived at among States of the region concerned, including the establishment of Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in accordance with the 1995 resolution on the Middle East, in relation to which we feel encouraged by the first session of the conference held in 2019 and continuous efforts in this regard.

Further, the three Foreign Ministers released the following statement, published in the German newspaper, Rheinische Post:

The Stockholm Initiative: A renewed

commitment to Nuclear Disarmament

“A nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” On 16 June, President Biden and President Putin re-affirmed this fundamental truth, famously coined by their pre­decessors, Reagan and Gorbachev, at the last peak of the cold war. Back then, this sentence marked the beginning of a US-Soviet arms-control engagement beneficial to all humankind. Today, it instils new hope that the world can get back on the path of nuclear disarmament.

We need progress more than ever. Nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation agreements have crumbled in recent years. Renewed tensions and mistrust between global powers have undercut further reduction of nuclear arsenals in the past years. The Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty, one of the basic instruments for arms control, was terminated in 2019. Technological advance increases complexity, creates new risks and may even fuel a new arms race. And regional proliferation challenges, such as Iran and North Korea, continue to demand our full engagement.

Against this background, the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, composed of 16 states from all continents, aims to revitalize diplomacy, strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty and make progress on the path of disarmament. In the interest of humanity, we must ensure that nuclear weapons will never be used again.

In a series of Ministerial meetings in Stockholm, Berlin, Amman, and now Madrid, we have developed more than 20 actionable proposals to reinforce the NPT and the implementation of its disarmament goals ahead of its upcoming Review Conference. The extension of the New START earlier this year, the prospect of new talks between Russia and the US on the future of arms control and risk reduction measures, and a new commitment to restraint at the highest political level, as expressed last month in Geneva by the US and Russian presidents, are good news. These ideas figured among the “stepping stones” that our initiative had proposed.

As much as we welcome these positive developments, we encourage nuclear-weapon States to take further decisive steps towards disarmament. These may include reducing the role of nuclear weapons in policies and doctrines, minimising the risk of conflict and of accidental nuclear weapon use, further reducing stockpiles, and contributing to next-generation arms control arrange­ments. We must, once and for all, put an end to nuclear testing by bringing into force the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, unblock negotiations on a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile material for military purposes, and develop robust and credible nuclear disarmament verification capacities. In other words: we should learn from history and thereby build for the future. As part of this, we will strengthen our interaction with affected communities, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and our engagement with the younger generation. We will also strive for the full and equal participation of women in decision-making processes in the field of nuclear disarmament, as well as for the full integration of gender perspectives.

That is why we, the countries of the Stockholm Initiative, will meet today in Madrid to reaffirm our resolute commitment to advancing nuclear disarmament and take next steps to that effect.

At our last meeting in Amman, the United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres, told us: “Individually, you represent different regions. Together, you represent a collective commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons”. We call on other States to join us in this endeavour.

Signed by: Heiko Maas, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Arancha González Laya, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain, and Ann Linde, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden

The work of the Stockholm Initiative indicates a renewed mood to reinvigorate the debates around nuclear weapons and to take concrete steps towards disarmament. These indications at the governmental level find some resonance at the level of political activism and of the ‘person on the street’. The Trump administration did a great deal of work to reveal the acute dangers posed by nuclear weapons and the threat of their use. Credit where credit is due. It is now time for the nuclear-armed and non-nuclear states to throw off the Trump legacy in a deep and meaningful way. Yes, this will mean mapping out credible steps towards nuclear disarmament but it will also mean taking a stand that might prove unpopular.

So whilst Foreign Minister Maas should be congratulated for his work, we should remind him that Germany is home to US nuclear weapons under NATO sharing agreements. Is he happy with this arrangement? It is important that the NPT Review Conference is used as a staging post to take the argument to those who wilfully ignore the provisions of the Treaty, but why no mention of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which is supported by the overwhelming majority of humanity and the governments that seek to represent them?

Any steps towards nuclear disarmament are welcome, but the shuffling steps of a toddler must develop into an adult stride.