Japan seeks collaboration to advance nuclear disarmament

ISTANBUL

Japan on Monday expressed its willingness to collaborate with relevant parties to advance efforts toward nuclear disarmament.

"The cry that the tragedies of nuclear weapons must never be repeated and the call for achieving a 'world without nuclear weapons' are now louder than ever," Japanese Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said in a speech delivered in New York, according to a statement by the Foreign Ministry.

Speaking at the General Debate of the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Iwaya said the NPT framework must respond to the sincere wishes of people around the world.

"It is our shared responsibility and moral imperative to find common ground, step by step, among states parties," he said, urging countries to "cherish and exercise the spirit of dialogue and collaboration" to move the process forward next year.

The previous review conference in 2022 ended without an agreement after Russia rejected the final draft document.