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NUR-SULTAN, Kazakhstan, Dec. 2, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — The Global Leaders Alliance for Nuclear Security and a Nuclear Weapon-Free World (GAL) meeting was held on November 29, 2022, bringing together political leaders, diplomats, experts, Nobel Peace Prize winners and directors of international NGOs from 45 countries, at the Dialogue of the Continents forum in Paris.
Participants discussed the challenges of the war in Ukraine during the session “How to avoid nuclear war?”.
In her speech, Angela Kane, former UN Deputy Secretary General, highlighted that nuclear escalation has become a possible scenario in the current geopolitical crisis.
“Currently there are two risks. The first is the destruction of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which would cause a nuclear catastrophe. The second scenario is the possibility of using nuclear weapons. This conflict jeopardizes all the progress that has been made in recent 60 years in the field of arms control”, stressed the expert.
For his part, Urban Rusnak, former Secretary General of the Energy Charter, Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Slovak Republic, pointed out that, in light of recent international events, the steps taken by Kazakhstan in terms of voluntary denuclearization have a special value.
“The situation in Ukraine, which, like Kazakhstan, had nuclear potential and underwent denuclearization, is especially worrying. Until recently, it was difficult to imagine that nuclear infrastructure facilities could become targets for attacks”, – stressed the speaker.
Ariel Cohen, Atlantic Council Board Member, Director of the Energy and Security Program (ITIC), focused the audience’s attention on the consequences of incidents involving nuclear reactors in a war zone.
“If the safety of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor is compromised, it will have catastrophic consequences not only for Ukraine, but for nuclear safety in general. The international mechanism for ensuring the safety of nuclear reactors is broken,” the expert summed up.
Summing up the session, Kairat Abuseitov, a well-known Kazakh diplomat from the Nursultan Nazarbayev Foundation, noted that Kazakhstan has a unique example of voluntary denuclearization.
“The country possessed the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal (in 1991). Kazakhstan had the right to be a nuclear weapons state. But it chose a different path,” the speaker concluded.
In conclusion, the participants agreed that the lack of political will to resolve nuclear non-proliferation issues is fraught with further escalation, and the importance of dialogue platforms that could restore lost mutual trust between nuclear states. is important like never before.
The LAG meeting took place during an official visit of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, to France. Kazakhstan, which produces 42% of the world’s uranium, actively develops cooperation with France and the EU in the field of peaceful atom and nuclear non-proliferation.
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