UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — UN chief Ban Ki-moon outlined steps Friday to advance the goal of a nuclear-free world, including a call on Russia and the United States to resume talks on cutting their nuclear arsenals.
"The world would welcome a resumption of bilateral negotiations between the United States and Russian Federation aimed at deep and verifiable reductions of their respective arsenals," he said in an address here to the East-West Institute, an independent international body focusing on security issues.
The UN secretary general also called on signatories of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to fulfill their disarmament obligations and consider negotiating "a nuclear-weapons convention, backed by a strong system of verification."
"The United Kingdom's proposal to host a conference of nuclear-weapon states on verification is a concrete step in the right direction," he noted.
The UN symposium on the theme "The United Nations and security in a nuclear-weapon-free world" was also attended by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed El Baradei, US former secretary of state Henry Kissinger and Russian Ambassador to the United States Sergei Kislyak.
ElBaradei called for "concrete action" to speed up nuclear disarmament, noting that "The world cannot afford 27,000 nuclear weapons 20 years after the Cold War."
Some lamented that efforts to whittle down nuclear stockpiles have gained little traction.
"The goal of nuclear disarmament has remained a mirage," said retired General Ved Malik, a former chief of India's Army Staff.
Ban said that while most nations had opted to forgo the nuclear option and have complied with their commitments under the NPT, "some states view possession of such weapons as a status symbol."
"And some states view nuclear weapons as offering the ultimate deterrent of nuclear attack, which largely accounts for the estimated 26,000 that still exist."
Citing world concern about nuclear activities in North Korea and Iran, Ban added however that "there is widespread support for efforts to address these concerns by peaceful means through dialogue."
The UN Security Council has slapped three rounds of sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, a process which can be used to make the fissile material for a nuclear bomb.
The West and nuclear-armed Israel have accused the Islamic republic of using its atomic program as a cover to build nuclear arms. But Tehran insists its program is strictly peaceful and solely aimed at generating electricity.
And Pyongyang this month broadly resumed disabling its weapons-grade nuclear program following a deal that revived troubled six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.
In his remarks, Ban also urged the five permanent members of the Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- to begin nuclear disarmament talks and to "unambiguously assure non-nuclear weapon states that they will not be the subject of the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons."
He also suggested that the 15-member council convene a summit on the issue.
And he proposed new efforts to bring the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) into force and for the UN Conference on Disarmament to begin talks on a fissile material treaty "immediately."
The CTBT has been ratified by 140 countries, including all of those in Europe. It was signed by the five nuclear powers and ratified by Britain, France and Russia but not by China and the United States.
Ban also underscored the need for greater accountability and transparency by nuclear-weapon states, including more data on the size of their arsenals, stocks of fissile material and specific disarmament achievements.
Finally he pressed for "new efforts against WMD (weapons of mass destruction) terrorism, limits on the production and trade in conventional arms and new weapons bans, including of missiles and space weapons."
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