In January 2022, a Joint Statement by the UK, US, Russia, China, and France asserted that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. But a year on from that Statement, the hands of the Doomsday Clock were pushed forward to stand at 90 seconds to midnight - the closest to annihilation we have ever come.
Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine has led to a surge in militarism, the announcement of the imminent deployment of Russian nuclear weapons to Belarus and the siting of upgraded US/NATO nuclear bombs across western Europe. Yet at the recent G7 summit in Hiroshima, no initiative was taken to diminish the nuclear dangers, despite the G7 leaders' presence at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
As CND General Secretary Kate Hudson writes in her latest blog post: “The G7 leaders have called on Russia to ‘recommit – in words and deeds – to the principles enshrined in that Statement’. Yes, Russia must do that, but so must all nuclear weapons states. This is not a time for double standards. To preserve our planet and all forms of life, we must eradicate nuclear weapons, once and for all.”
.jpg "G7 leaders stand for family photo in the Hiroshima Peace Park")
