While Iran is a signatory of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and has not been proven to have nuclear weapons, Israel is not a member of the NPT and has an undeclared nuclear weapons program. Russia aims to change that reality.
“We would certainly welcome Israel’s participation in the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon state,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in an interview with The International Affairs Journal, reported TASS. “Our Israeli colleagues are well aware of this position. They also recognize that we have been actively engaged for a considerable time in promoting the creation of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, including their delivery systems, to be precise and clear in our fundamental wording.”
Ryabkov acknowledged the significant challenges associated with achieving this objective in the region. “We understand the complex array of problems related to this issue,” he said. “However, if we do not pursue this goal, we risk undermining the fundamental understanding of the indefinite extension of the NPT, which was achieved in 1995 with the participation of Russia as one of the treaty’s depositaries.”
