Judging from public statements from Moscow, the Russian government’s principal disappointment following the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons at the United Nations in New York (April 27-May 22) was its failure to produce a statement calling for a nuclear-free zone in the Middle East. But is Russia truly pursuing this goal? Its policies suggest otherwise.
During the closing session of the conference, the head of Russia’s delegation, Mikhail Ulyanov, complained that “the adoption of a final document including a section on the Middle East turned out to be impossible because of the objections of three states.” To avoid any uncertainty regarding their identity or Moscow’s goals, Russia’s Foreign Ministry followed up with a statement expressing regret that “the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada” blocked language on “the implementation of the 1995 resolution on the creation of a zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction, as well as related delivery vehicles in the Middle East.”
