The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference held at United Nations headquarters in New York ended without an agreement, as member states failed to narrow their differences.
The NPT Review Conference concluded its four-week schedule on Friday (local time) and was set to adopt a final joint statement to strengthen the NPT regime, but failed to reach a conclusion due to clashes between nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear-weapon states over nuclear issues.
This marks the third consecutive failure to produce a joint statement, following 2015 and 2022. Concerns are growing that the repeated failures to adopt a final document could weaken the credibility and authority of the international nuclear control regime.
Conference Chair Dang Hoang Giang, Vietnam's Ambassador to the UN, officially announced that the final document had not been adopted, saying, "Based on the statements heard from delegations, no agreement has been reached." He then declared the 2026 NPT Review Conference closed.
The meeting was held against the backdrop of intensifying international conflicts, including the U.S.-Iran war, and prospects for an agreement had been low from the outset. The United States and Iran clashed sharply throughout the conference. Washington accused Tehran of violating its NPT obligations, while Iran protested that attacks by the U.S. and Israel on its nuclear facilities violated international law.
A consensus had emerged among member states that even a watered-down revised version should be adopted, but they ultimately failed to bridge their differences. According to reports, the revised draft circulated that day had removed all expressions of concern over North Korea's nuclear program and language related to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. With respect to Iran, only a brief phrase stating that it must "never" develop nuclear weapons was included in brackets.
AFP also reported that language calling for the start of follow-up negotiations on the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), the only nuclear arms reduction agreement between the United States and Russia, was excluded from the draft.
Kim Sang-jin, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Republic of Korea to the UN, who attended as the Korean government's representative, said at the closing meeting, "I express deep regret that not even a single line of a simple message on the North Korea issue could be included." He added, "It should have been clearly stated that North Korea can never hold the status of a nuclear-weapon state under the NPT regime, and that it is important to resolve this issue through negotiations and diplomacy."
