Dear Friend,

As the 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee begins today at the United Nations in New York, three Nobel Peace Prize Laureates working on nuclear disarmament, Nihon Hidankyo, IPPNW and  ICAN are calling for nuclear disarmament in a direct appeal to Presidents Putin and Trump.

We have sent a letter to both governments, urging them to meet and begin meaningful negotiations to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. Together, these two leaders control over 90% of the world’s nuclear weapons.

“Nuclear weapons are not an inevitable force of nature. They were built by human hands — and they can be dismantled by human hands.”
– From the Nobel Peace Laureates’ letter to Trump and Putin

This appeal follows recent statements from both leaders about the financial cost and existential threat of nuclear weapons — and recalls the historic 1986 Reykjavik summit between Reagan and Gorbachev that brought about the most significant arms reductions to date.

In June, hibakusha and ICAN will visit Reykjavík, where that summit took place. Their journey is a reminder of both the horror of nuclear weapons — and the hope of eliminating them.

Meanwhile, in New York...

While this message is directed at the world’s most heavily armed leaders, disarmament diplomats are gathering in New York for the Preparatory Committee of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

The Treaty faces a grave challenge from within, as several European and Asian countries are openly debating hosting or even acquiring nuclear weapons - in blunt contradiction of their obligations under the treaty. In a recent op-ed, ICAN Executive Director Melissa Parke warned that such rhetoric directly threatens the integrity of the NPT and could trigger a new wave of proliferation.

ICAN is at the PrepCom this week to push back. We’re urging all governments to:

• Reaffirm their commitment to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons;
• Condemn nuclear sharing and deployment plans;
• Recognize the legitimate security concerns of non-nuclear-armed states;
• And strengthen the NPT by supporting and joining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Through initiatives like the joint letter, we hope to encourage such leadership and to challenge the world’s most powerful nuclear-armed states to finally take responsibility, to meet, to talk, and to act. And it reminds us that the work we’re doing in forums like the NPT, and even more so through treaties like the TPNW, is part of a larger movement — a movement demanding courage, not complacency.

We’ll continue our efforts to hold governments accountable and urge action — and we thank you for being part of this global effort.

In solidarity,  

Florian