Politics
UN nuclear nonproliferation talks fail after four weeks of negotiations
- Experts say repeated failure weakens treaty credibility.
- Campaigners blame nuclear-armed states for blocking progress.
- Treaty remains in force but divisions persist among member states.
Talks at the UN to reaffirm nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament goals failed on Friday, according to the leader of the talks, after four weeks of negotiations held amid low expectations.
Vietnam’s Do Hung Viet, the president of the conference, said that “despite our best efforts… it is my understanding that the conference is not in a position to achieve agreement on its substantive work.”
“I do not intend to put the document forward for adoption,” he added.
Negotiators were reviewing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the cornerstone of nuclear weapons control, amid fears of a renewed arms race. Previous reviews in 2015 and 2022 were also unsuccessful.
With expectations low, participants negotiated over a repeatedly reviewed and watered-down text, which they ultimately failed to adopt.
Experts pointed out that even in the absence of a review agreement for the third time in a row, the treaty continues to exist, but with diminished legitimacy.
“The text keeps on becoming less and less anchored in the realities of current conflicts and proliferation risks,” including North Korea and Iran, analyst Richard Gowan of the International Crisis Group said before the outcome was announced.
The latest version of the text seen by AFP on Friday merely stated that Tehran must “never” develop nuclear weapons.
The paragraph was in brackets, signalling persistent disagreement, despite the removal of the reference to Iran’s “non-compliance” with its obligations that appeared in the first draft.
Also gone were expressions of concern about North Korea’s nuclear programme, or even any mention of the “denuclearisation” of the Korean Peninsula.
Gone as well was the direct call on the United States and Russia to begin negotiations on a successor to the New START treaty limiting Russian and American arsenals, which expired in February.
The diluted text still covered “the risk of a resumption of nuclear testing by Russia, China and the United States, the growth of arsenals, and attacks on nuclear infrastructure,” Heloise Fayet of the French Institute of International Relations said earlier on Friday.
Exactly why the review failed isn’t yet known.
“The majority of countries are indeed working in good faith for disarmament,” said Seth Shelden of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), commenting on the failure of the talks.
“But the small handful of nuclear-armed states, and certain of their allies, are undermining the NPT, frustrating disarmament efforts, expanding arsenals and provoking proliferation, and pointing the world toward catastrophe,” he added.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the nine nuclear-armed states — Russia, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, China, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea — possessed 12,241 nuclear warheads in January 2025, 90% of which were in American and Russian hands.
Some countries are modernising their arsenals or even increasing their stockpiles.
The NPT, which entered into force in 1970 and has been signed by almost all states — with notable exceptions including Israel, India, and Pakistan — aims to prevent proliferation, promote complete disarmament and encourage cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
US President Donald Trump on Friday said he won’t be attending the wedding of his eldest son, Donald Trump Junior, to Palm Beach socialite Bettina Anderson because he has to stay in Washington for government business.
“While I very much wanted to be with my son, Don Junior, and the newest member of the Trump Family, his soon to be wife, Bettina, circumstances pertaining to Government, and my love for the United States of America, do not allow me to do so,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.
“I feel it is important for me to remain in Washington, DC, at the White House during this important period of time,” the post continued.
The wedding is taking place this weekend on a small island in the Bahamas, CNN reported on Thursday, citing two people familiar with the plans. A spokesperson for Donald Trump Jr did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump told reporters on Thursday that Donald Trump Jr wanted his father to attend, but that it was going to be a “small private affair.”
Trump said then he would try to make the wedding but the timing was bad for him.
“I have a thing called Iran and other things,” Trump said on Thursday.
The Trump administration is currently engaged in diplomatic talks mediated by Pakistan aimed at securing a deal to end the war with Iran the US and Israel began on February 28 which has roiled the global economy.
This is the third time Donald Trump Jr has been engaged. He was previously married to Vanessa, a former model and actress, for 12 years and the couple has five children together. Vanessa filed for a divorce in 2018. He was later engaged to Kimberly Guilfoyle, a US television personality, until they separated in 2024.
- Gabbard cites rare bone cancer in husband as reason for exit.
- Trump accepts resignation, praises her service in Truth Social post.
- Aaron Lukas named acting Director of National Intelligence.
Tulsi Gabbard said on Friday she is resigning from her job as President Donald Trump’s director of national intelligence, saying her husband had been diagnosed with a rare form of bone cancer and that she was stepping away from her role to help him.
Gabbard advised Trump of her intention to step down during an Oval Office meeting on Friday, Fox News Digital reported earlier. The resignation is effective June 30, it said.
A source familiar with the matter said that Gabbard had been forced out by the White House.
In her resignation letter posted on X, Gabbard told Trump she was “deeply grateful for the trust you placed in me and for the opportunity to lead the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for the last year and a half.”
She cited her husband’s recent diagnosis with a rare form of bone cancer.
“I cannot in good conscience ask him to face this fight alone while I continue in this demanding and time-consuming post,” she said.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump said the Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Aaron Lukas, would serve as acting director of national intelligence.
He said Gabbard had done “a great job” but with her husband diagnosed with bone cancer, “she, rightfully, wants to be with him, bringing him back to good health as they currently fight a tough battle together.”
Trump has hinted in the past at differences with Gabbard on their approach to Iran, saying in March that she was “softer” than him on curbing Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
- USCIS announces move in policy memo.
- New policy to free up agency to work on other cases: USCIS
- Latest step part of Trump’s policy to tighten migration laws.
Foreigners seeking to adjust their immigration status in the United States to secure green cards will have to do so from outside the country via the State Department, the US Citizenship and Immigration Services said on Friday, in a move criticised by aid groups.
USCIS announced the move in a policy memo, which directed officers to consider relevant factors and information on a case-by-case basis when determining whether extraordinary relief is warranted.
“An alien who is in the US temporarily and wants a Green Card must return to their home country to apply,” said the US Department of Homeland Security, which has oversight of USCIS.
“This policy allows our immigration system to function as the law intended instead of incentivising loopholes.”
The USCIS said the new policy will free up agency resources to focus on processing other cases.
HIAS, an aid group that provides services to refugees, among other groups of immigrants, said USCIS was forcing survivors of trafficking and abused and neglected children to return to the dangerous countries they fled in order to process their applications for green cards, granting them permanent residency in the US.
Friday’s policy change is the latest in a series of steps taken by US President Donald Trump over the last year to tighten migration to the United States.
Last year, the Trump administration moved to shorten the duration of visas for students, cultural exchange visitors and members of the media.
In January, the State Department announced that it had revoked more than 100,000 visas since Trump took office the year before.
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