A review of current assistance programs for victims of nuclear weapons highlights that no single best practice exists and that much more work needs to be done to extend the benefits of these programs to all who have suffered.

In the last two weeks, 13 more countries have signed or ratified the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), bringing it closer to its entry into force. In the same period, several of the world’s nuclear weapon states engaged in shows of nuclear force, deliberate acts that contribute to a dangerous escalation in the nuclear arms race.

September 18, 2019

August 29, 2019

Today, 2 August 2019, the governments of the US and Russia have missed a troubling deadline: the end of the six-month notice period that began when both countries announced their withdrawal from the INF Treaty earlier this year.

On 18 June 2019, lawmakers in Russia’s State Duma voted to support a decree by President Vladimir Putin to suspend the country’s participation in the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, citing a need to protect Russia’s national interest. The Treaty is scheduled to terminate on 2 August 2019, after the six-month notice period expires following the US and then Russian withdrawals from the Treaty.

As diplomats from all over the world meet to discuss nuclear disarmament at the 2019 NPT Preparatory Committee , President Trump and President Putin are reported to have discussed nuclear weapons and a new arms-control agreement that extends to China during a phone call on Friday. 

The US suspension of and withdrawal from the INF-Treaty is an irresponsible move that opens the path for a new-nuclear arms race and highlights the importance of real multilateral, binding solutions like the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. With Russia and the US putting the entire world at risk, it is urgent for all responsible states to stand up and join the Nuclear Ban Treaty.