Tag: N-weapons

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‘NATO in talks to put N-weapons on standby’

Seoul : This photo, taken Jan. 29, 2023, shows North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaking in a meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin at Seoul's foreign ministry. (Yonhap/IANS)

Stoltenberg said last week that nuclear weapons were NATO’s “ultimate security guarantee” and a means to preserve peace…reports Asian Lite News

NATO is in talks to deploy more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby, in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China, the head of the alliance said on Monday.

Jens Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that there were live consultations between members to use transparency around its nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.

“I won’t go into operational details about how many nuclear warheads should be operational and which should be stored, but we need to consult on these issues. That’s exactly what we’re doing,” he told the paper.

“Transparency helps to communicate the direct message that we, of course, are a nuclear alliance.”

“NATO’s aim is, of course, a world without nuclear weapons, but as long as nuclear weapons exist, we will remain a nuclear alliance, because a world where Russia, China and North Korea have nuclear weapons, and NATO does not, is a more dangerous world.”

Stoltenberg said last week that nuclear weapons were NATO’s “ultimate security guarantee” and a means to preserve peace.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly warned that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme circumstances. It accuses the US and its European allies of pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory.

NATO, which has taken on a greater role in coordinating arms supplies to Kyiv, rarely talks about weapons publicly, although it is known that the US has deployed nuclear bombs to several locations in Europe.

Kremlin calls remark an ‘escalation of tension’

The Kremlin said on Monday a remark by NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg that the military alliance was holding talks on deploying more nuclear weapons was an “escalation of tension.”

Stoltenberg told Britain’s Telegraph newspaper that NATO members were consulting about deploying more nuclear weapons, taking them out of storage and placing them on standby in the face of a growing threat from Russia and China.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Stoltenberg’s comments appeared to contradict a communique issued at a weekend conference in Switzerland that said any threat or use of nuclear weapons in the Ukraine context was inadmissible.

The talks, held at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, were billed as a “peace summit” although Moscow was not invited.

“This is nothing but another escalation of tension,” Peskov said of the NATO secretary general’s remarks.

Stoltenberg later said Russia was trying to create confusion and that his comments referred to the modernization of NATO’s nuclear deterrent, including the replacement of F-16 jets with F-35s and the modernization of weapons deployed in Europe, which he said has been known for a long time.

“Russia is trying a way to always also create a situation where they can blame NATO, and the reality is that NATO is transparent,” Stoltenberg told reporters on a visit to Washington.

NATO had earlier sought to clarify Stoltenberg’s remarks, saying there were no significant changes to its nuclear posture.

“NATO is committed to ensuring a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent,” NATO spokesperson Farah Dakhlallah said.

“For that purpose, we have an ongoing modernization program to replace legacy weapons and aircraft,” she said. “Beyond that, there are no significant changes to our nuclear deterrent.”

Russia, which sent troops into Ukraine in 2022, says the United States and its European allies are pushing the world to the brink of nuclear confrontation by giving Ukraine billions of dollars worth of weapons, some of which are being used against Russian territory. President Vladimir Putin has said Russia is technically ready for nuclear war, and that Moscow could use nuclear weapons to defend itself in extreme circumstances.

Russia and the US are by far the world’s biggest nuclear powers, holding about 88 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The US has about 100 non-strategic B61 nuclear weapons deployed in five European countries — Italy, Germany, Turkiye, Belgium and the Netherlands, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. The US has another 100 such weapons within its borders.

Russia has about 1,558 non-strategic nuclear warheads, though arms control experts say it is very difficult to say just how many there are due to secrecy.

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UN chief calls for elimination of N-weapons

UN chief called on countries to strengthen their commitments to reducing and, eventually, eliminating nuclear weapons….reports Asian Lite News

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has warned of “humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions” due to the geopolitical mistrust and competition that has made nuclear risk escalate to Cold War levels.

“Any use of a nuclear weapon – anytime, anywhere and in any context – would unleash a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions,” he told the UN General Assembly on the final day of its yearly session on Tuesday as North Korea warned that the US was pushing it to the brink of war.

With an evolving nuclear order in which armed nations are expanding and modernising their arsenals, the UN chief called on countries to strengthen their commitments to reducing and, eventually, eliminating nuclear weapons.

In a statement released on the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Guterres reminded UN member states of the recently launched policy brief on A New Agenda for Peace – which calls for a recommitment to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

“On this important Day, we re-affirm our commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and the humanitarian catastrophe their use would unleash,” Guterres said in the statement.

“This means nuclear-weapon States leading the way by meeting their disarmament obligations, and committing to never use nuclear weapons under any circumstances.”

Meanwhile, North Korea, in one of the last speeches of the week-long UN General Assembly debate, accused the United States of driving the peninsula “closer to the brink of nuclear war” because of its tighter cooperation with South Korea.

Kim Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the United Nations, pointed to the recent formation of the Nuclear Consultative Group, through which the US hopes to integrate its nuclear capacity better with South Korea’s conventional forces.

The two allies would increase information sharing and contingency planning, which Kim alleged was to execute a “preemptive nuclear strike” against North Korea.

“Due to its sycophantic and humiliating policy of depending on outside forces, the Korean peninsula is in a hair-trigger situation with imminent danger of nuclear war,” Kim said.

“Do you really believe, as the DPRK pretends, the Republic of Korea together with the United States conspires to provoke a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula without reasons that will cause catastrophic casualties,” he asked.

Hours earlier, South Korea staged its first military parade in a decade, with some 4,000 troops marching through a rainy Seoul.

Yoon Suk-yeol, South Korea’s president, had earlier said that “if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, its regime will be brought to an end by an overwhelming response from the ROK-US alliance”.

In June this year, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute reported that the world’s nuclear powers, and China in particular, increased investment in their arsenals for a third consecutive year in 2022.

While the total number of nuclear warheads held by Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia and the United States had fallen by about 1.6 percent to 12,512 over the previous year, SIPRI said the declining trend was on the cusp of a reversal.

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Delhi Declaration take tough stand on N-weapons  

Modi’s “today’s era isn’t of war” message to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia conflict has become part of the outcome statement of the G20 joint declaration at New Delhi…reports Asian Lite News

The “use or threat of use of nuclear weapons is inadmissible”, G20 nations said Saturday in a New Delhi Leaders’ Declaration under the mention of the Ukraine war.

Without mentioning Russia, the G20 member countries recalled the Bali declaration and underscored that all States must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety and called for a “comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine” and reminded member states to “refrain from the threat, or use of force, to seek territorial acquisition”.

“Concerning the war in Ukraine, while recalling the discussion in Bali, we reiterated our national positions and resolutions adopted at the UN Security Council and the UN General Assembly and underscored that all States must act in a manner consistent with the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter in its entirety. In line with the UN Charter, all states must refrain from the threat or use of force to seek territorial acquisition against the territorial integrity and sovereignty or political independence of any state. The use or threat of use of nuclear weapons are inadmissible,” the joint declaration read.

This is a historic moment as under India’s presidency 100 per consensus was reached on the New Delhi Declaration on Saturday, the first day of the G20 Summit.

Modi’s “today’s era isn’t of war” message to Russian President Vladimir Putin in the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russia conflict has become part of the outcome statement of the G20 joint declaration at New Delhi.

Modi, in his statement to Putin in a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Samarkand in September this year in the backdrop of the Ukraine-Russian conflict, had said, “today’s era not of war”.

“On the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India worked very closely with Brazil, South Africa and Indonesia and it was the emerging markets that played a very key role. India worked with all the emerging markets which played a key role, there were very tough and ruthless negotiations that went on for several days nonstop. In the end, the issue was clinched because of the leadership of the PM…”, said G20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in the joint press conference alongwith Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.

The New Delhi Declaration reaffirmed that the G20 is the premier forum for international economic cooperation and the member countries acknowledged that the G20 is not the platform for Geopolitical and security issues; although these issues can have consequences for the global economy.

Highlighting that G20 is not the platform to resolve geopolitical and security issues, Jaishankar said that the leaders recognized that they can have significant consequences for the global economy, “In particular, they dwelt on the ongoing war in Ukraine and the impact it has had, especially on developing and least developing nations still recovering from the pandemic and economic disruption.”

The declaration, which was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the start of the second session of the G20 Leaders’ Summit, said that the New Delhi Declaration, “We highlighted the human suffering and negative added impacts of the war in Ukraine with regard to global food and energy security, supply chains, macro-financial stability, inflation and growth, which has complicated the policy environment for countries, especially developing and least developed countries which are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic disruption which has derailed progress towards the SDGs. There were different views and assessments of the situation.”

“We appreciate the efforts of Türkiye and UN-brokered Istanbul Agreements consisting of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Russian Federation and the Secretariat of the United Nations on Promoting Russian Food Products and Fertilizers to the World Markets and the Initiative on the Safe Transportation of Grain and Foodstuffs from Ukrainian Ports (Black Sea Initiative), and call for their full, timely and effective implementation to ensure the immediate and unimpeded deliveries of grain, foodstuffs, and fertilizers/inputs from the Russian Federation and Ukraine. This is necessary to meet the demand in developing and least developed countries, particularly those in Africa,” it added.

“…Considerable time was spent, especially in the last few days in regard to geo-political issues which really centred around the war in Ukraine. The question who helped? I mean, eventually, everybody helped because everybody came together for the consensus,” Jaishankar said.

Stating that the emerging economies played a major role in the Declaration to get adopted, “EAM said, “I think the emerging markets took a particular lead on this, and many of us have a strong history of working together. Bear in mind that actually, you have four developing countries in succession as G 20 presidency Indonesia, India, Brazil and South Africa but I would say rather than who helped? The point to be recognized is that a common landing point was ultimately fashioned out…”

Emphasising the importance of sustaining food and energy security, the G20 members called for the cessation of military destruction or other attacks on relevant infrastructure and expressed deep concern about the adverse impact that conflicts have on the security of civilians thereby exacerbating existing socio-economic fragilities and vulnerabilities and hindering an effective humanitarian response.

The G20 members called on all states to uphold the principles of international law including territorial integrity and sovereignty, international humanitarian law, and the multilateral system that safeguards peace and stability.

“The peaceful resolution of conflicts, and efforts to address crises as well as diplomacy and dialogue are critical. We will unite in our endeavour to address the adverse impact of the war on the global economy and welcome all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace in Ukraine that will uphold all the Purposes and Principles of the UN Charter for the promotion of peaceful, friendly, and good neighbourly relations among nations in the spirit of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future’,” the New Delhi Declaration read.

EAM further said, “The three Fs Food, Fuel and Fertilisers were issues of special concern. Another subject addressed by them… was countering terrorism and money laundering. The leaders condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations… Speaking for India, we are clear that no one is left behind. ‘No one left behind’ is as much a foreign policy goal as it is a domestic one…”

In a major win for India, the G20 adopted the New Delhi Leaders Summit Declaration after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that consensus had been reached among member states.

“Have just got the good news that due to the hard work of our teams and your cooperation, a consensus has been reached on New Delhi G20 Leaders Summit Declaration,” PM Modi. (ANI)

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‘Russia plans to deploy tactical N-weapons in Belarus’

Moscow, Feb 21 (ANI): Russian President Vladimir Putin addresses the Federal Assembly (Russia's two-chamber Parliament), in Moscow on Tuesday. (ANI Photo)

Putin accused the ‘West’ of fueling the Ukraine crisis and said that the ‘West’ is gambling on the fates of entire states and peoples, according to the Kremlin’s statement…reports Asian Lite Néws

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Russia plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. This marks Moscow’s latest attempt to use the threat of a nuclear war to ramp up tensions with the US and NATO over the invasion of Ukraine, Financial Times reported.

Putin said work would be completed on building storage units for tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus on July 1, a move he likened to US nuclear deployments in Europe. The Russian leader said Moscow has already transferred an Iskander short-range missile system – which can be fitted with nuclear or conventional warheads – to Belarus.

Though Putin said Russia would not transfer control of the tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus or violate its nuclear non-proliferation obligations, the decision is one of the Kremlin’s most significant steps with its arsenal since it invaded Ukraine more than a year ago, according to Financial Times.

The Russian President said the deployment was in response to a longstanding request from Belarus’s leader Alexander Lukashenko who has allowed Russia to use the country as a launch pad for attacks on Ukraine, thereby moving his country deeper into the Kremlin’s embrace.

“There is nothing unusual here: first of all, the US has been doing this for decades,” Putin said. “They placed their tactical nuclear weapons in six different allied Nato countries in Europe. [ . . . ] we have agreed to do the same thing, without, I stress, violating our international non-proliferation obligations,” Putin said.

“They have [tactical nuclear weapons] in certain countries, prepare the delivery systems, and train the crews. We’re planning to do the same thing,” he added, as quoted by Financial Times.

Putin accused the ‘West’ of fueling the Ukraine crisis and said that the ‘West’ is gambling on the fates of entire states and peoples, according to the Kremlin’s statement.

Putin, in an article for the Chinese Communist Party’s flagship newspaper, People’s Daily, stated that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is striving for the global reach of activities and seeking to penetrate the Asia-Pacific.

“The crisis in Ukraine, which was provoked and is being diligently fuelled by the West, is the most striking, yet not the only, manifestation of its desire to retain its international dominance and preserve the unipolar world order. It is crystal clear that NATO is striving for a global reach of activities and seeking to penetrate the Asia-Pacific,” Putin said.

“It is obvious that there are forces persistently working to split the common Eurasian space into a network of ‘exclusive clubs’ and military blocs that would serve to contain our countries’ development and harm their interests. This won’t work,” he added.

The government in Belarus, which is situated west of Russia on Ukraine’s long northern border, is among Moscow’s closest allies.

Belarus has had no nuclear weapons on its territory since the early 1990s. Shortly after gaining independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union, it agreed to transfer all Soviet-era weapons of mass destruction stationed there to Russia.

Belarus helped Russia launch its initial invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, allowing the Kremlin’s troops to enter the country from the north. There have been fears throughout the conflict that Belarus will again be used as a launching ground for an offensive, or that Minsk’s own troops will join the conflict, CNN reported. (ANI)

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International community needs to stop illicit proliferation N-weapons: Shringla

Speaking on the topic ‘Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty’, he said India had participated in the negotiations on the draft CTBT in the conference on disarmament…reports Asian Lite News.

There was a need for the international community to pay closer attention to the illicit proliferation of networks of nuclear weapons, their delivery systems, components and relevant technologies, Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla said on Monday.

Speaking at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Foreign Secretary Shringla said India was committed to the goal of a weapons-free world and a complete elimination of nuclear weapons.

This was consistent with the highest priority accorded to nuclear weapons, nuclear disarmament by the final document of the First Session of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament, he noted.

According to Shringla, India believes that this goal can be achieved by a step-by-step process underwritten by a universal commitment and an agreed global non-discriminatory multilateral framework as outlined in India’s working paper on nuclear disarmament submitted to the United Nations General Assembly in 2006.

Speaking on the topic ‘Non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty’, he said India had participated in the negotiations on the draft CTBT in the conference on disarmament.

But it could not join the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) because it could not address New Delhi’s core concerns, he pointed out.

He said that India maintains a voluntary, unilateral moratorium on nuclear explosive testing.

India was the first country to call for a ban on nuclear testing in 1954 and a non-discriminatory treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons as distinct from non-dissemination in 1965.

He stated that India has played a leading role in global efforts towards nuclear disarmament.

India would continue to work in the framework of disarmament triad consisting of the Conference on disarmament, the UN Disarmament Commission and the first Committee of the UN General Assembly to strengthen disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, Shringla added.

He noted that as the world’s sole multilateral negotiation forum, the Conference on Disarmament is well placed to advance the global disarmament agenda and negotiate legally binding instruments on the items of its core agenda.

Without prejudice to the priority we have attached to nuclear disarmament, India expressed its readiness to support the commencement of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty in the Conference on disarmament on the mandate contained in CG/1299, the Foreign Secretary pointed out.

He said India has actively supported and contributed to the global nuclear security architecture.

India participated in the Nuclear Summit process and had regularly participated in the International Conference on Nuclear Security organized by IAEA, Shringla maintained.

India is also member of the Nuclear Security Contact Group, he added.

According to the Foreign Secretary, India is a key partner in global non-proliferation efforts.

He mentioned that one of the important steps undertaken by India in this context was the piloting of an annual UN General Assembly resolution on Measures to Prevent Terrorists from acquiring Weapons of Mass Destruction.

With the objective of strengthening the non-proliferation security architecture- India has joined various export control regimes, he explained further.

“We hope that the international community will continue to realize our collective aspiration of a nuclear-free world,” FS Shringla remarked.

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