Russia stalls new draft of UN nuclear deal over Ukraine issue / What is Russia's objection !!

Russia blocked the new draft of the UN nuclear agreement due to the Ukraine issue?

Russia blocked the process of adopting a joint declaration at the UN Conference on Nuclear Disarmament.

The 191 countries that signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review the treaty every five years to see if it is sufficient to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons.

Russia has objected to the new draft statement, which was created after a review of the treaty by a conference of representatives of the signatory nations at the UN headquarters in New York. It expressed "deep concern" over military activities around Ukraine's nuclear facilities, particularly the Zaporizhia nuclear facility.

The agreement was last reviewed in 2015 and even then the participating countries failed to reach a consensus.

The next review was supposed to take place in 2020, but could not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

That meeting was held this year in New York. Delegates failed to agree on a joint declaration after the four-week conference began on August 1.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she was "deeply disappointed" by the failure to reach an agreement.

"While all other countries have agreed to accept the proposed text of the agreement, progress has been hampered by Russia's refusal to compromise," he said.

America's representative, Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins, said the US was "deeply saddened by the outcome of this conference, especially as we sit in this conference because of Russia's denunciation."

What is Russia's objection !!

Russia has refused to accept the deal, objecting to a specific part of the treaty's text, expressing "deep concern" over military activity around the country's power generation facilities, including Ukraine's Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia took control of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant.

The draft agreement further commented: "These military activities have resulted in the loss of control of these installations by the competent Ukrainian authorities, which has had a significant negative impact on their security."

Russia is angry about this. Igor Vishenevetsky, the Russian representative to the meeting, said the draft's final statement lacked "neutrality".

"Our delegation has serious objections to some of the paragraphs, as they are openly politically motivated," he added - a statement some other countries disagreed with.

While many countries expressed disappointment at the lack of consensus at the conference, the Netherlands said it was "satisfied with the discussion of the issue at the conference, but very disappointed at the lack of consensus."

The Chinese ambassador said that while there was no agreement on the agreement, the process "is an important process for the discussion on the issue of security for all and an important expression of multilateral perspectives on this issue."