Secretary Antony J. Blinken at the High Level Meeting to Launch the Friends of Fissile Material Cut off Treaty

SECRETARY BLINKEN: Welcome, everyone. Mr. Prime Minister, thank you. Thank you for bringing us together today. Thank you for your tireless efforts on behalf of peace, on behalf of nonproliferation, on behalf of reducing nuclear dangers.

When you gathered of the leaders of the G7 in your home town of Hiroshima last year, you set a powerful example for the world of the spirit of healing and regeneration that can turn one-time enemies into the closest of friends, of how a place once ravaged by war can become an international symbol of peace, and of how reflecting on our past can inform how we build our future.

And that's why we're here today, to build a future in which our citizens, their children, their grandchildren, can live in peace and security in a world without nuclear weapons. President Biden is firmly committed to that future and to upholding strategic stability, to working with allies and partners to strengthen arms control and nonproliferation, to reduce the global reliance on nuclear weapons.

So when Foreign Minister Kamikawa established the Friends of the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty group right here in New York six months ago, the United States was very proud to stand by Japan's side. And we're proud to stand with Japan and other friends here today. The principles and values that are embraced by this group are ones the United States has held for decades, chief among them preventing nuclear arms races, increasing transparency in nuclear armaments, pursuing multilateral disarmament, and upholding the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That's why America stopped producing highly enriched uranium for use in nuclear weapons in 1964 and why we stopped producing plutonium for weapons in 1988.

A treaty banning the production of fissile material for use in nuclear weapons is the next step on the path to nuclear disarmament. Of course, this treaty cannot address every nuclear risk. But it would limit the unconstrained expansion of nuclear arsenals as well as reduce the nuclear risks they're bringing. Doing that will make not only our people safer but it will make people everywhere safer.

Now, unfortunately, there are a number of UN member-states that are pursuing a path that leads in the other direction - violating or abandoning longstanding arms control obligations and commitments; refusing to engage on common-sense risk reduction measures by preventing transparency into their nuclear programs; building new fissile material production facilities; rapidly expanding their nuclear arsenals; sharing advanced technology with irresponsible actors.

Only by coming together, by working together, will we be able to overcome these threats. Only by working together can we put the world back on a path toward reducing the risk of nuclear conflict. And that is the idea that animates this group, and it must animate us to work urgently and persistently, to persuade others to join us, to follow Japan's lead, and to help meet our genuine security demands.

In that, too, Mr. Prime Minister and to all of our colleagues here, you can count on the United States as your partner. Thank you. (Applause.)

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