Russia sees attempts to stir up nuclear non-proliferation regime - deputy minister

BEIJING, January 30. /TASS/. Russia sees the attempts to rock the nuclear non-proliferation regime but this may trigger serious consequences, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told a conference of five nuclear powers in Beijing. The senior diplomat noted that the conference in Beijing is timely because the situation in international security has been deteriorating since the previous meeting in Washington in 2016. The level of conflict potential in the world has reached a very dangerous benchmark, important solutions cannot be made over the lack of political will and certain countries change their doctrines leading to lowering the threshold of using nuclear weapons, he noted. "The alarming tendencies are affecting the situation around the Non-Proliferation Treaty," Ryabkov said. "Its regime is being stirred up and this may spark very serious consequences in the light of non-proliferation prospects." 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, China and France - are represented at the level of deputies or aides to the top diplomats. 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