WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2021) ASHINGTON, December 13 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Chukaeva - Ex-US President George WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 13th December, 2021) . Bush's decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty (ABM) treaty twenty years ago triggered a new nuclear arms race, Akira Kawasaki, a member of the International Steering Group of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2021) eapons (ICAN), told Sputnik, urging Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart Joe Biden to maintain dialogue to avert nuclear war.
Former President George Bush withdrew the US from the ABM treaty between the Soviet Union and the United States in 1972 on December 13, 2001. Washington officially left the treaty, which had limited the number of anti-ballistic missile systems that each country could develop, in 2002.
"The US announcement of withdrawal from ABM treaty in 2001 paved the way for the dangerous nuclear arms race. The build-up of missile defense systems has always been accompanied with offense capabilities, thus promoting military build-up and preparedness on the other side," Kawasaki said.
He warned that the current nuclear arms race can trigger catastrophic consequences, "either by design or accident."
"Presidents Putin and Biden should promote further dialogue, on the basis of the common recognition that 'nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought,' as they reaffirmed this June in Geneva, to restore nuclear disarmament regime," he noted.
The landmark summit in Geneva on June 16 marked the first meeting between Putin and Biden as leaders, which the presidents themselves assessed as productive. The two leaders agreed to launch consultations on strategic stability and adopted a joint statement reaffirming commitment to the 1985 formula by Soviet Union President Mikhail Gorbachev and former US leader Ronald Reagan that nuclear conflict must be inadmissible.
The ICAN member stressed that a nuclear catastrophe would have serious consequences on a global scale.
"The two states must have the sense of responsibility for the whole humanity," he said, drawing attention to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which, as Kawasaki recalled, provides a non-discriminatory and universal goal that the two leaders should adhere to.
The TPNW, which was adopted by the United Nations in July 2017 and came into force in January 2021, prohibits the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, and the threat of use of nuclear weapons.
"In the nearest term, the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that takes place next month is a right place where the two states discuss ways to control nuclear arms and minimize the risks in an accountable manner to wider international community," he said.
NPT is an international treaty which aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology and promote cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear energy by furthering the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament. The 2022 NPT Review Conference is scheduled to meet from 4 to 28 January.
