UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Nearly two-thirds of United Nations states agreed on Friday to a treaty to ban nuclear weapons after months of talks, which were boycotted by the United States, Britain, France and others who instead pledged commitment to a decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty.

The treaty on the prohibition of nuclear weapons will enter into force 90 days after 50 countries have ratified it. It was adopted with 122 votes in favor, one against and one abstention.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley, British Ambassador Matthew Rycroft and French Ambassador Francois Delattre said in a joint statement that their countries do “not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party” to the treaty.

“Therefore, there will be no change in the legal obligations on our countries with respect to nuclear weapons,” they said.

“A purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any country’s security, nor international peace and security,” they said, citing North Korea.

Pyongyang’s latest missile tests and claims that its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) can carry a nuclear warhead have alarmed the United States and other countries.

At the start of the talks in March, Haley said dozens of countries were skipping the negotiations because they were committed to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which entered into force in 1970 and is aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology.

The U.N. General Assembly resolution adopted a resolution in December, 113 in favor to 35 against, with 13 abstentions, to “negotiate a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading toward their total elimination” and encouraged all member states to participate.</s>The United Nations on Friday finalized a landmark treaty calling for the complete destruction and outright prohibition of nuclear weapons until the end of time. The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was approved by 122 of the U.N.’s 192 nations.

“The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” said Costa Rica’s Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez, who led negotiations for the treaty. “We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons.”

There’s one major problem with the treaty though: None of the nations currently in possession of nuclear weapons approved it. In fact, those countries (the U.S., Russia, North Korea, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and Israel) boycotted the negotiations of the treaty. So too did all of the NATO member nations except for the Netherlands, which was the only country to participate but vote against finalizing the treaty.

Open to signatures in September and needing 50 signatures to come into force, the treaty says all ratifying nations should never “develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

Nikki Haley, the United States ambassador to the U.N., criticized it in March when negotiations began. “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons,” she said, “but we have to be realistic.”

On Friday, the U.S., United Kingdom, and France put out a joint statement saying the three nations “do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to” the treaty.

“This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment,” the statement says. “A purported ban on nuclear weapons that does not address the security concerns that continue to make nuclear deterrence necessary cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any country’s security, nor international peace and security.”</s>United Nations: A global treaty banning nuclear weapons is set to be adopted at the United Nations on Friday despite opposition from the United States, Britain, France and other nuclear powers that boycotted negotiations.

Supporters describe the treaty as a historic achievement but the nuclear-armed states have dismissed the ban as unrealistic, arguing it will have no impact on reducing the global stockpile of 15,000 nuclear weapons.

Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand, 141 countries have taken part in three weeks of negotiations on the treaty that provides for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Advocates hope it will increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously.

“This will be a historic moment,” Costa Rica’s ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the UN conference on the treaty, said on the eve of the adoption.

“The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” she said, calling it a “response for humanity.”

None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons—the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel—took part in the negotiations.

Even Japan—the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 -- boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley came out strongly against the ban when negotiations opened on March 27, saying “there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic.”

“Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?” she asked.

Nuclear powers argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent against a nuclear attack and say they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The decades-old NPT seeks to prevent the spread of atomic weapons but also puts the onus on nuclear states to reduce their stockpiles.

Impatience however is growing among many non-nuclear states over the slow pace of disarmament as are worries that the weapons of mass destruction will fall into the wrong hands.

Disarmament campaigners say the treaty will go a long way in increasing the stigma associated with nuclear weapons and will have an impact on public opinion.

“The key thing is that it changes the legal landscape,” said Richard Moyes, director of the British-based organisation Article 36.

“It stops states with nuclear weapons from being able to hide behind the idea that they are not illegal.”

“This is really about removing the prestige from nuclear weapons,” said Beatrice Fihn, director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons.

“They are seen as something very valuable and as giving power. This is supposed to remove that.”

During a meeting at the General Assembly, the treaty is expected to be adopted by consensus by the conference of nations that has negotiated the document without the nuclear powers and their allies.

After its adoption, the treaty will be open for signatures as of September 20 and will enter into force when 50 countries have ratified it.

During a vote at the UN General Assembly in December, 113 countries voted in favour of starting negotiations on the new treaty while 35 opposed the move and 13 abstained.</s>A global treaty banning nuclear weapons was adopted at the United Nations on Friday despite opposition from the United States, Britain, France and other nuclear powers that boycotted negotiations.

 The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favor with one country — NATO member The Netherlands voting against — while Singapore abstained.

 Loud applause and cheers broke out in the UN conference hall following the vote that capped three weeks of negotiations on the text providing for a total ban on developing, stockpiling or threatening to use nuclear weapons.

 Nuclear-armed states have dismissed the ban as unrealistic, arguing it will have no impact on reducing the global stockpile of 15,000 atomic weapons.

 “Is there anyone that believes that North Korea would agree to a ban on nuclear weapons?” asked US Ambassador Nikki Haley when negotiations began in March. “There is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic.

 “We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons,” said Costa Rica’s ambassador, Elayne Whyte Gomez, the president of the UN conference that negotiated the treaty.

 Led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa and New Zealand, 141 countries joined in drafting the treaty that they hope will increase pressure on nuclear states to take disarmament more seriously. None of the nine countries that possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — took part in the negotiations or the vote.

 Even Japan — the only country to have suffered atomic attacks, in 1945 — boycotted the talks as did most NATO countries. Nuclear powers argue their arsenals serve as a deterrent against a nuclear attack and say they remain committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).—AFP</s>NEW YORK, New York, July 7, 2017 (ENS) – Despite the absence of all nine nuclear-weapons states, countries meeting at a United Nations conference in New York Friday adopted the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, the first multilateral legally-binding agreement for nuclear disarmament to have been negotiated in 20 years.

“The treaty represents an important step and contribution towards the common aspirations of a world without nuclear weapons,” the spokesperson for UN Secretary-General António Guterres said following its adoption.

“The Secretary-General hopes that this new treaty will promote inclusive dialogue and renewed international cooperation aimed at achieving the long overdue objective of nuclear disarmament,” said spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric.

The treaty was adopted by a vote of 122 in favor to one against (Netherlands), with one abstention (Singapore).

It prohibits a full range of nuclear-weapon-related activities, such as undertaking to develop, test, produce, manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as the use or threat of use of these weapons.

“We feel emotional because we are responding to the hopes and dreams of the present and future generations,” said Ambassador Elayne Whyte Gómez of Costa Rica, who serves as the president of the conference that negotiated the treaty in response to a mandate given by the UN General Assembly.

She told a news conference at UN Headquarters that with the treaty the world is “one step closer” to a total elimination of nuclear weapons.

The treaty will be open for signature to all countries at UN Headquarters in New York on September 20, 2017, and enter into force 90 days after it has been ratified by at least 50 countries.

However, a number of countries stayed out of the negotiations, including the United States, Russia and other nuclear-weapon States, as well as many of their allies.

North Korea did not join the talks either.

In a joint press statement issued today, the delegations of the United States, United Kingdom and France said they “have not taken part in the negotiation of the treaty… and do not intend to sign, ratify or ever become party to it.”

“This initiative clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment,” they stated. “Accession to the ban treaty is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years.”

In response to questions on the joint statement, Whyte Gómez said that when the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, NPT, was adopted decades ago, it did not enjoy a large number of accessions.

Opened for signature in 1968, the Non-Proliferation Treaty entered into force in 1970. Then in 1995, the treaty was extended indefinitely. A total of 191 States have joined the treaty, including the five nuclear-weapon states that are the permanent members of the UN Security Council – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

In the beginning, it was unimaginable that those States would be parties to the NPT, she said. “But the world changes and the circumstances change.”

She said that survivors of nuclear bombs, the hibakusha, have been the driving force in the creation of the nuclear weapons prohibition treaty. The experiences they have been sharing “touch the human soul,” she said, adding that the negotiations were a “combination of reason and heart.”</s>Despite being a victim of atomic attacks in 1945, Japan also boycotted the meeting. Nevertheless, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki informed Friday’s dialogue—and the conversation thereafter. “It’s been seven decades since the world knew the power of destruction of nuclear weapons,” the president of the UN conference, Elayne Whyte Gómez, told The Guardian. The agreement, she added, “is a very clear statement that the international community wants to move to a completely different security paradigm that does not include nuclear weapons.”

More than 120 nations adopted the first international treaty banning nuclear weapons on Friday at the United Nations headquarters in New York City. The initiative—led by Austria, Brazil, Mexico, South Africa, and New Zealand—was approved by 122 votes, with only the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining. The nine countries generally recognized as possessing nuclear weapons—the U.S., Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel—were noticeably absent from the negotiations, as were most members of NATO.

Friday’s ten-page treaty is extensive in its demands, prohibiting signatories from developing, testing, manufacturing, possessing, or threatening to use nuclear weapons. Nations are also prohibited from transferring nuclear weapons to one another. Having now been approved by the UN, the treaty will be open for signatures on September 20, at which point it will need to be ratified by 50 states before entering into international law.

The major obstacle, of course, is that many prominent members of the international community—and their allies—remain vocally opposed. In a joint statement on Friday, the UN ambassadors for the U.S., Britain, and France said they had no intention of joining the treaty, arguing that it “clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment.” Of particular concern, they said, was the fact that the treaty failed to address of the growing threat of North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. Earlier this week, North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile, which experts say may be capable of striking Hawaii and Alaska. The nation has also conducted five nuclear tests since 2006—and could be preparing for its sixth.

Rather than ban nuclear weapons and risk vulnerability to a North Korean attack, the U.S., Britain, and France hope to strengthen the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which provides nations other than the five original nuclear powers—the U.S., Russia, Britain, France, and China—from pursuing nuclear programs. In exchange, the five powers have pledged to make steps toward nuclear disarmament and give non-nuclear states access to nuclear technology for producing energy.

But many nations have criticized the NPT for failing to elicit a speedy disarmament. At the very least, Friday’s treaty introduces the concept of a nuclear-free world, and could even put pressure on nuclear powers to adopt a new set of standards. “The key thing is that it changes the legal landscape,” Richard Moyes, the managing director of Article 36, a U.K.-based organization that aims to prevent harm caused by nuclear weapons, told Agence France-Presse. As Moyes sees it, the newly-approved treaty “stops states with nuclear weapons from being able to hide behind the idea that they are not illegal.”</s>United Nations: More than 120 countries approved the first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons on Saturday at a UN meeting boycotted by all nuclear-armed nations.

To loud applause, Elayne Whyte Gomez, president of the UN conference that has been negotiating the legally binding treaty, announced the results of the "historic" vote - 122 nations in favour, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining.

"We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons," Whyte Gomez said. "We (are) saying to our children that, yes, it is possible to inherit a world free from nuclear weapons."

"The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years," since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 at the end of World War II, she said.

Setsuko Thurlow, who was a 13-year-old student in Hiroshima when a US nuclear bomb destroyed the city, said survivors "have worked all our lives to make sure that no other human beings should ever again be subjected to such an atrocity."

None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons - the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel - is supporting the treaty.

Many of their allies also did not attend the meeting.

In a joint statement, the UN ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France said their countries don't intend to ever become party to the treaty.

They said it "clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment" and "is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years."

The treaty offers no solution to "the grave threat posed by North Korea's nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary," the three ambassadors said.

A ban that doesn't address these concerns "cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any country's security," they said.

"It will do the exact opposite by creating even more divisions at a time when the world needs to remain united in the face of growing threats."

The US, Britain and France along with other nuclear powers instead want to strengthen the nearly half-century-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts.

That pact sought to prevent the spread of atomic arms beyond the five original weapons powers - the US, Russia, Britain, France and China.

It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states' access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

All NATO members boycotted the treaty negotiations except for the Netherlands, which has US nuclear weapons on its territory and was urged by its parliament to send a delegation.

The Netherlands deputy UN ambassador Lise Gregoire-Van-Haaren told delegates her country couldn't vote for a treaty that went against its NATO obligations, had inadequate verification provisions or that undermined the NPT - and "this draft does not meet our criteria."</s>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — More than 120 countries approved the first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons Friday at a U.N. meeting boycotted by all nuclear-armed nations.

To loud applause and cheers, Elayne Whyte Gomez, president of the U.N. conference that has been negotiating the legally binding treaty, announced the results of the “historic” vote — 122 nations in favor, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining.

“We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons,” Whyte Gomez said. “We (are) … saying to our children that, yes, it is possible to inherit a world free from nuclear weapons.”

“The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 at the end of World War II, she said.

Setsuko Thurlow, who was a 13-year-old student in Hiroshima when a U.S. nuclear bomb destroyed the city, said survivors “have worked all our lives to make sure that no other human beings should ever again be subjected to such an atrocity.”

“This nuclear ban treaty declares that these weapons are illegal, inhumane and illegitimate,” she said in a statement. “It is the most important step in my lifetime towards the Hibakusha (survivors) goal of totally abolishing all these criminal weapons of mass destruction.”

None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — is supporting the treaty. Many of their allies also did not attend the meeting.

The United States and other nuclear powers instead want to strengthen and reaffirm the nearly half-century-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts.

That pact sought to prevent the spread of atomic arms beyond the five original weapons powers — the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China. It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

France’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement after the vote that the country’s security and defense policies is based on nuclear deterrence, just like that of its allies and other close partners, and it has no intention of complying with the treaty.

“It is a text unsuited to the international security context, characterized by growing tensions and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, as shown, inter alia, by the North Korea nuclear threat,” the ministry said.

All NATO members boycotted the negotiations except for the Netherlands, which has U.S. nuclear weapons on its territory and was urged by its parliament to send a delegation. It was the only country to vote against the treaty.

Whyte Gomez said 129 nations signed up to take part in drafting the treaty, which represents two-thirds of the 193 member states.

She added that it will be opened for signatures in September and come into force when 50 countries have ratified it, and that its language leaves the door open for nuclear weapon states to become parties to the agreement.

The treaty requires of all ratifying countries “never under any circumstances to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

It also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices — and the threat to use such weapons.

Iran, which signed an agreement with six major powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, was among the countries that voted for the treaty. Its representative stressed the importance of the treaty’s prohibition on threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Palestine is recognized as a non-member observer state of the United Nations, and its ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said he was “so proud” to participate in drafting the treaty and voting to adopt it.

Rebecca Johnson of the London-based Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, called the treaty “the first step to prevent a handful of militaries holding the world hostage with their nuclear arsenals.”

“We will use (the ban) to stop further nukes being made, used or deployed,” she said. “We’ll make it into a formidable lever to accelerate their irreversible elimination, weapon by weapon and country by country.”

North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, including its July 3 launch, have become a timely argument for proponents and opponents of the treaty to ban atomic weapons.

Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said 15,000 nuclear weapons around the world have not deterred Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and a new approach is needed, starting with prohibition as a first step.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on March 27 when talks began on the treaty that “there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic.”

But she asked whether anyone thought North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons, arguing that Pyongyang would be “cheering” a nuclear ban treaty and Americans and others would be at risk.</s>After decades-long effort to prevent a nuclear war, a global treaty has been negotiated, which, if comes to force, would lead to the destruction of all nuclear weapons and prohibition of its use forever. As per the New York Times, the two-thirds of the 192-member United Nations finalised the 10-page treaty this week. ‘Treaty on the prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,’ was formally adopted by the members of the United Nations at its headquarters in New York during the final session of the negotiation conference.

The document will be open for signature by any member state on September 20 at the time of the annual General Assembly. It will become legal 90 days after it will be ratified by 50 countries. “The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” said Elayne G. Whyte Gómez, Costa Rica’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva.

The room was filled with cheers and applause after 122 votes were casted in the favour and one against — the Netherlands, the only NATO member that participated in the conference. The world’s nine nuclear-armed countries did not participated and conspicuously boycotted the negotiations.</s>UNITED NATIONS — More than 120 countries approved the first-ever treaty to ban nuclear weapons Friday at a U.N. meeting boycotted by all nuclear-armed nations.

To loud applause and cheers, Elayne Whyte Gomez, president of the U.N. conference that has been negotiating the legally binding treaty, announced the results of the “historic” vote – 122 nations in favor, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining.

“We have managed to sow the first seeds of a world free of nuclear weapons,” Whyte Gomez said. “We (are) … saying to our children that, yes, it is possible to inherit a world free from nuclear weapons.”

“The world has been waiting for this legal norm for 70 years,” since atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 at the end of World War II, she said.

Setsuko Thurlow, who was a 13-year-old student in Hiroshima when a U.S. nuclear bomb destroyed the city, said survivors “have worked all our lives to make sure that no other human beings should ever again be subjected to such an atrocity.”

“This nuclear ban treaty declares that these weapons are illegal, inhumane and illegitimate,” she said in a statement. “It is the most important step in my lifetime towards the Hibakusha (survivors) goal of totally abolishing all these criminal weapons of mass destruction.”

Although there was reason to celebrate, the fact that all nuclear powers, including the United States, boycotted the negotiations takes some of the wind out of the proponents’ sails, CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk reports.

None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons – the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – is supporting the treaty. Many of their allies also did not attend the meeting.

In a joint statement, the U.N. ambassadors from the United States, Britain and France said their countries don’t intend to ever become party to the treaty.

U.S. response to N. Korea ICBM test puts focus on China

They said it “clearly disregards the realities of the international security environment” and “is incompatible with the policy of nuclear deterrence, which has been essential to keeping the peace in Europe and North Asia for over 70 years.”

The treaty offers no solution to “the grave threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear program, nor does it address other security challenges that make nuclear deterrence necessary,” the three ambassadors said.

A ban that doesn’t address these concerns “cannot result in the elimination of a single nuclear weapon and will not enhance any country’s security,” they said. “It will do the exact opposite by creating even more divisions at a time when the world needs to remain united in the face of growing threats.”

The U.S., Britain and France along with other nuclear powers instead want to strengthen the nearly half-century-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts.

That pact sought to prevent the spread of atomic arms beyond the five original weapons powers – the U.S., Russia, Britain, France and China. It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states’ access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

U.S. warns it will use military force against North Korea if necessary

All NATO members boycotted the treaty negotiations except for the Netherlands, which has U.S. nuclear weapons on its territory and was urged by its parliament to send a delegation.

The Netherlands deputy U.N. ambassador Lise Gregoire-Van-Haaren told delegates her country couldn’t vote for a treaty that went against its NATO obligations, had inadequate verification provisions or that undermined the NPT – and “this draft does not meet our criteria.”

Whyte Gomez, Costa Rica’s U.N. ambassador in Geneva, said 129 nations signed up to help draft the treaty, which represents two-thirds of the 193 member states.

She added that it will be opened for signatures in September and come into force when 50 countries have ratified it, and that its language leaves the door open for nuclear weapon states to become parties to the agreement.

The treaty requires of all ratifying countries “never under any circumstances to develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.”

It also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices – and the threat to use such weapons.

Nikki Haley says U.S. will propose tougher sanctions against North Korea

Iran, which signed an agreement with six major powers in 2015 to rein in its nuclear program, was among the countries that voted for the treaty. Its representative stressed the importance of the treaty’s prohibition on threatening to use nuclear weapons.

Palestine is recognized as a non-member observer state of the United Nations, and its ambassador, Riyad Mansour, said he was “so proud” to participate in drafting the treaty and voting to adopt it.

Other countries that voted in favor include Sweden, Switzerland, Austria, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Rebecca Johnson of the London-based Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy called the treaty “the first step to prevent a handful of militaries holding the world hostage with their nuclear arsenals.”

“We will use (the ban) to stop further nukes being made, used or deployed,” she said. “We’ll make it into a formidable lever to accelerate their irreversible elimination, weapon by weapon and country by country.”

Trump looking at ways to cut off N. Korea’s financial lifeline without Beijing’s help

North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile tests, including its July 4 launch, have become a timely argument for proponents and opponents of the treaty to ban atomic weapons.

North Korea said Friday its launch was “the final gate to completing the state nuclear force.” A lengthy statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also said its intercontinental ballistic missile is meant to overcome U.S. hostility, which it likened to a “mugger’s mentality,” and enable the North to “strike the very heart of the U.S. at any given time.”

The statement also called the country’s missile an “unquestionable nuclear war deterrent.”

Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, said 15,000 nuclear weapons around the world have not deterred Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions and a new approach is needed, starting with prohibition as a first step.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley said on March 27 when talks began on the treaty that “there is nothing I want more for my family than a world with no nuclear weapons, but we have to be realistic.”

But she asked whether anyone thought North Korea would give up its nuclear weapons, arguing that Pyongyang would be “cheering” a nuclear ban treaty and Americans and others would be at risk.
The United Nations votes in favour of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons with 122 in favour, 1 abstention, and 1 against. The treaty conference and negotiations had been boycotted by the nuclear weapon states and by the members of NATO.