Japanese PM Confirms Tokyo's Non-Participation in Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty

"There are no changes in the position of our country on non-participation in the treaty … Even though we do share the goals of the prohibition of nuclear weapons, the participation of nuclear powers is required for building a world without nuclear weapons. Unfortunately, the nuclear powers have not joined the treaty," Abe said at a press conference in Hiroshima.

The TPNW was adopted on July 7, 2017, at the UN Conference to Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons. It contains a set of prohibitions, including an obligation not to develop, test, produce, acquire, possess, stockpile, use or threaten to use nuclear weapons. So far, the TPNW has been signed by 60 states and ratified by only 14.

READ MORE: Russia Reduced Its Nukes by Over 85% Under Non-Proliferation Treaty — Ministry

None of the nuclear-weapons states under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), namely the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China, have joined the TPNW.