US attacks Russia’s ‘cynical obstructionism’ for blocking UN nuclear treaty

Russian officials have been blasted by their United States counterparts for “cynical obstructionism” after Moscow blocked the United Nations from adopting a joint declaration on nuclear non-proliferation.

The US said on Sunday that after weeks of talks on The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and promotes disarmament, that Russia had prevented the declaration from being adopted over “cynical” aspects of the text.

Moscow had claimed that certain “political” aspects of the declaration, which is reviewed every few years and signed by 191 nations, were problematic, in apparent reference to “grave concerns” raised by the international community about the safety of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) in Ukraine.