Britain’s ex-foreign secretary calls for discussing Russian nuclear threat at UNGA
The initiative to discuss at the UN General Assembly the recent Russian threats to use nuclear weapons is worth looking into.
That’s according to a Member of the House of Lords of the British Parliament, former British Foreign Secretary David Owen, who spoke with Guildhall.
“I fully support the policy over Ukraine being pursued by the British government. As to your suggestion to take Russia’s threat to use nuclear weapons to the General Assembly that deserves serious consideration and I am sure it is being given just that,” Lord Owen said.
“Policy on all aspects of such a highly dangerous topic as the use or non use of nuclear weapons is rightly made by governments alone and in consultation in strict confidence with the governments of our NATO allies and in particular the two other nuclear weapon states, France and the US. This applies in particular to what is said publicly in the UN Security Council and in the UN General Assembly and in the tactics in relation to votes and exact wording of resolutions. That means self-discipline and was broadly accepted as such and followed by colleagues in the House of Commons and the House of Lords when I was Foreign Secretary in 1977-1979 dealing directly in Moscow with President Brezhnev and Foreign Minister Gromyko on nuclear policy,” the ex-foreign secretary noted.
As reported earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during an informal meeting with the CIS diplomats once again suggested that Russia could use nuclear weapons, not ruling out such an option.
President Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the world should prepare for a nuclear strike by the aggressor power.
On the air of the Russia 1 TV channel, Russian propagandist Olga Skabeeva and MP Alexei Zhuravlev discussed how many seconds it would take for the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile to reach the capitals of Great Britain, Germany, and France – the nations supplying weapons to Ukraine.
Earlier, the head of the Center for Defense Reforms, coordinator of the interagency platform for countering hybrid threats, which operates within the framework of Ukraine-NATO cooperation, Oleksandr Danyliuk also stated that, in response to confirmation of intentions to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine, Russia should be excluded from the UN Security Council, and the UN General Assembly should immediately adopt a resolution that such a step on the part of the Russian Federation would be a declaration of war on humanity.
As reported previously, former Commander of the Estonian Defense Forces, MEP, Lieutenant General Riho Terras believes the UN General Assembly should adopt a resolution that the use of nuclear weapons by Russia against Ukraine will be seen “as a declaration of war on all mankind.”
Ex-Minister of Defense of Lithuania, MEP Rasa Juknevičienė, shares the idea that Russia’s use of nuclear weapons would mean they’re at war with the whole world.
Also, the head of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Latvian Parliament, Atis Lejiņš, supported the initiative on the need for the said UN resolution to be adopted.