Ukraine’s envoy to Japan said the Group of Seven (G7) affluent nations must denounce any threat to use nuclear weapons and pledge “decisive action” against it at their summit in Hiroshima next week.
Since the Ukraine crisis began, Russian President Vladimir Putin has regularly threatened to use nuclear weapons to protect its “territorial integrity.”
Sergiy Korsunsky told Reuters that circumstances near the Zaporizhia nuclear power station had worsened fast, a position the head of the U.N.’s nuclear power authority warned was “potentially dangerous” over the weekend. read on
“It should be a very clear statement from specifically those nuclear powers among the G7 that the use of nuclear weapons or nuclear terrorism will not be tolerated and will be met with almost decisive actions from major powers,” he added.
The envoy’s remarks come as Russia began to drone, missile, and air raids on Kyiv and other towns before its May 9 Victory Day holiday, commemorating Nazi Germany’s defeat.
Ukraine’s President Volodomyr Zelenskiy will attend the G7 summit in Hiroshima, the first city to be atomically bombed, via video connection.
“It’s most important that the summit when we have a real threat of nuclear terrorism, that summit will be in Hiroshima,” Korsunsky said.
Since the IAEA and U.N. Security Council lacked power, he proposed G7 meetings on nuclear security and global architecture.
Adding, “Maybe additional decisions should be taken” concerning a new system.
If we want a larger international security structure to safeguard any country, the G7 must agree. Not only Ukraine.”
Ukraine also expects the conference to address reconstruction, which Korsunsky thinks Japan can lead because of its expertise in reconstructing after disasters, notably using frozen Russian assets.
In February, the E.U. announced an ad hoc panel considering utilizing blocked Russian cash to reconstruct Ukraine.
Last week, Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo said his country was investigating how Russian assets may aid Ukraine’s military effort.
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