US convenes nuclear weapons meeting with China, France, Russia, UK
The meeting is considered as part of "an ongoing exchange in the context of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."
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US Under Secretary of State Andrea Thompson, center, speaks during a Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) conference in Beijing on January 30, 2019. (AFP)
According to the State Department, the US held a conference of working-level specialists from China, France, Russia, and the United Kingdom this month to address nuclear weapons challenges, including strategic risk reduction.
Washington convened the conference of the five nuclear weapon nations on June 13-14 in Cairo, portraying it as "an ongoing exchange in the context of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)."
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The specialists were recruited from the different ministries of international affairs and defense of the countries, according to the department. They also "discussed strategic risk reduction, as well as nuclear doctrines and policy," according to the statement.
The NPT, which went into force in 1970, aims to limit the development of nuclear weapons-making capabilities while also guaranteeing members' freedom to produce nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
The deal permitted the five nuclear weapons states, who are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, to retain their nuclear arsenals.
