Five nuclear states refuse to issue joint statement over lack of trust - Russian diplomat

BEIJING, January 30. /TASS/. Five nuclear powers - Russia, the United Kingdom, China, the United States and France - refused to agree on a joint statement at the conference in Beijing amid the deepening lack of trust, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told the event. "This is alarming that these events are happening amid the deepening lack of trust between members of the nuclear five, what is an unprecedented challenge for this format," he said. "The situation is so serious that this time we even had to refuse to agree on a final statement." The conference of the so-called nuclear five is held in Beijing on January 30-31 and focuses on preserving the regime of nuclear non-proliferation. The countries - Russia, the United Kingdom, the United States and France - are represented at the level of deputies or aides to the top diplomats. Washington hosted the previous such meeting in 2016. The representatives of Russia and the United States, Sergey Ryabkov and Andrea Thompson, are expected to hold a bilateral meeting later to discuss the possibility of keeping the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. Read more