US leads boycott of UN talks on nuclear weapons ban

More than 100 countries on Monday launch the first UN talks aimed at achieving a legally binding ban on atomic weapons, as Washington led an international boycott of a process it deems unrealistic.

Before the conference even begins, the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, speaks out to reject the proposal in the light of current global security threats.

“As a mom and a daughter, there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” Haley, who represents the world’s largest nuclear power, says on the sidelines of the meeting.

“But we have to be realistic,” she adds. “Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?”

Haley speaks in a group of some 20 ambassadors from US allies who are boycotting the negotiations, including Britain, France and South Korea, Turkey and a number of countries from eastern Europe.

The ambassadors of Russia and China are notably absent, but both major nuclear powers are also sitting out the talks.

Haley estimates that “almost 40 countries” are not in the General Assembly on Monday.

Some 123 UN members announced the nuclear weapon ban initiative in October, even as most of the world’s declared and undeclared nuclear powers voted against. Leaders of the effort include Austria, Ireland, Mexico, Brazil, South Africa and Sweden, supported by hundreds of NGOs.

— AFP