The 11th NPT RevCon: Choppy Waters Through Week 1; Rough Seas Ahead

Libby Flatoff — Sat, 02 May 2026 15:01:42 +0000

Libby Flatoff Sat, 05/02/2026 - 11:01

As diplomats in New York reach the end of the first week of the four week-long Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty Review Conference (NPT RevCon), the meeting is on schedule and on course but it remains highly uncertain whether they can navigate a safe course through a large array of contested issues to arrive at a consensus final document that bolsters and reaffirms support for the treaty and charts out concrete action step for the next five years.

At the onset of the meeting, the United States delegation offered a lengthy objection to the nomination of Iran as a vice president of the conference by the Non-aligned Movement. Every NPT Review Conference has 34 largely ceremonial vice presidents to create a greater sense of ownership for the meeting outcome.

In the days before the opening of the meeting, there was concern that the United States would demand votes on the matter, which could have delayed any substantiative work and could have led to retaliatory maneuvering on procedure. However, key delegations succeeded in persuading the U.S. delegation not to call for a procedural vote.

In a second intervention, the United States took time to relay its complaints over the funding structure of the NPT RevCon. Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation Christopher Yeaw noted that the United States currently bears the largest share of the approximately $3 million cost of the meeting, and he complained that certain other states, namely China, do not contribute enough. The matter was deferred for later consideration and adjudication.

Throughout the exchange of statements during the general debate portion of the agenda, several common themes emerged, some of which show alignment but some of which reveal significant disagreement. A large majority of states:

called for a reaffirmation of previous decisions on action steps agreed to by consensus at the 1995, 2000, and 2010 Review Conferences. It is not clear that all delegations, including the United States, will be willing to acknowledge the validity of their past NPT Review Conference commitments.
expressed support for the global moratorium on nuclear testing established by the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. With U.S. President Donald Trump's threat to renew nuclear testing clearly on their minds, many states said that any renewal of nuclear testing would be a severe blow to the NPT regime.
called upon states at the Conference on Disarmament to begin long-delayed negotiations on a Fissile Material Cutoff Treaty.
expressed deep regret over the expiration of New START without the negotiation of a follow-on agreement or negotiations between the United States and Russia and a majority of states called for the nuclear weapon states to fulfill their disarmament commitments under Article VI. A few "welcomed" the United States' post-Feb. 6 call for multilateral arms control talks. While not prominent in many statements, several states also expressed concern about the dangers of AI integration in nuclear command and control.
several states reiterated the need for legally binding negative security assurances for nonnuclear weapon states, and several called upon the nuclear weapon states ratify the protocols to three existing nuclear weapon free zone treaties, which provide legally binding negative security assurances (NSAs) to countries in these zones. The United States is the only one that has not ratified the protocols to the African, Central Asian, and South Pacific nuclear weapon free zones.
reaffirmed the critical role of the IAEA and the application of effective safeguards to ensure nuclear technology is not diverted for use for military purposes and underscored the principle that safeguarded nuclear facilities should not be subject to military attacks.

In response to criticism from several states about the forward deployment of U.S. nuclear weapons in certain allied states, several Western European states worked hard to defend their nuclear sharing and deterrence policies as being compatible with the letter of the NPT.

As was the case at the 2022 NPT RevCon, Russia's war on Ukraine was a target of sharp criticism from several, mainly, European states, which prompted "rights of reply" statements from the delegation of the Russian Federation.

The ongoing U.S. and Israeli war on Iran was key topic for many states, some of whom called on Iran to meet its NPT and safeguards obligations, some of whom noted two nuclear-armed states (the United States and Israel) had attacked a nonnuclear weapon state (Iran), and some of who noted the need to make progress toward a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. This subject led to a round of sharp rights-of-reply statements between Gulf Arab states and Iran.

Among the most significant statements in the opening round of this addition of the NPT Review Conference were those of the United States, China, and Russia, all of which came toward the end of the general debate.

The U.S. statement, delivered by Assistant Secretary Christopher Yeaw focused on U.S. criticisms of China's nuclear policies, including U.S. allegations China conducted a prohibited nuclear test in 2020 and the buildup of its nuclear forces.

He said: “China’s mysterious and opaque, and even reckless, nuclear expansion has already multiplied its arsenal severalfold in just a decade and a half. This disturbing trend could be interpreted as Beijing seeking to drive an arms race.” Yeaw also called on the conference to demand that Iran meet its NPT obligations.

He noted all five NPT nuclear-armed states have Article VI responsibilities and said that is why “we have proposed multilateral strategic stability and arms control.”

Yeaw also said: “We provided detailed proposals to Russia and China, and among the P5, on possible initial steps, including on transparency, risk reduction, and nuclear testing.” Whether that proposal was all that “detailed” and what exactly it entailed is yet not clear, according to several delegations with whom we consulted.

For their part, Russia and China both expressed regret that the United States had failed to take up opportunities to negotiate a follow-on to New START. They both urged The United States to actively consider Russia's proposal to respect New START limits for one more year and explore a follow-on agreement “in a responsible manner.”

China's Director General for Disarmament, Sun Xiaobo said in his statement, in clear reference to the United States, that “certain countries, has been hyping up the nuclear threats posed by other countries in the attempt to justify its own investment of trillions of dollars in modernizing its nuclear forces. It has been calling for the so-called multilateral nuclear arms control and strategic stability dialogue with the real purpose of shirking its special and primary responsibilities as a country with the largest nuclear arsenals, such attempt to shift the burden of nuclear disarmament to other countries will lead nowhere. China has no interest in such kind of arrangements.”

He also said: “China is committed to the objectives and purposes of CTBT and strictly adheres to its moratorium on nuclear testing. We urge the relevant country to recognize the grave consequences of resuming nuclear testing against the prevailing trend of history.”

By Thursday, the conference had moved to an exchange of views on "Main Committee I," which is focused on NPT disarmament issues.

On Friday morning more than 30 representatives of civil society delivered brief statements to the conference. See https://reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/npt/2026/statements#cso for these presentations.

As member-states look to try to arrive at a forward-looking consensus document, they will have to remain civil, respectful, and focus on where they share common ground on the NPT itself.

Diplomatic sources tell us that the first draft of the final outcome document should be in circulation by next week for consideration by the state parties. At that point, we will begin to see if key states can curb their sharp criticism for one another and begin to focus on the hard work of drafting actual text that can garner consensus support, or not.

The conference will resume on Monday.

For more information on the conference, including working paper drafts, national statements, and other resources visit Reaching Critical Will at https://reachingcriticalwill.org/disarmament-fora/npt/2026 and the official NPT 2026 Review Conference web site: https://meetings.unoda.org/npt-revcon/treaty-on-the-non-proliferation-of-nuclear-weapons-eleventh-review-conference-2026

- By Libby Flatoff, with contributions from Daryl G. Kimball

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The 11th NPT RevCon: Choppy Waters Through Week 1; Rough Seas Ahead

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