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Aug. 1 (UPI) -- U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said Russia has engaged in "saber-rattling" over Ukraine during a speech at the United Nations' month long nuclear treaty conference. Blinken traveled to the United Nations on Monday for a conference to review progress on the implementation of the 1970 Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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The review conference, which is called for by Article VIII of the treaty every five years, is the tenth to be held since the treaty went into effect in 1970. It began Monday and meetings are scheduled every day through Aug. 26.
Blinken in his speech before the United Nations noted that President Joe Biden and the leaders of the other nuclear states that have signed the NPT including China, France, Russia and Britain, all affirmed the principle that a nuclear war could not be won.
"The very next month, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has engaged in reckless, dangerous nuclear saber-rattling," Blinken said.
Blinken recalled comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin in which he said those that aid Ukraine "risk consequences such as you have never seen in your entire history."
"Its actions are also directly contrary to the assurances it provided to Ukraine in 1994 in the so-called Budapest Memorandum," Blinken said.
"Assurances of Ukraine's sovereignty and independence that were vital to giving Ukraine the confidence to give up the nuclear weapons it inherited when the Soviet Union dissolved and that were left on its territory."
Blinken said that Russia's war in Ukraine is "directly relevant" to the work of the conference over the next month.
Both Ukraine and Russia are expected to have their foreign ministers speak during the debates. Ukraine is home to the largest nuclear power stations in Europe, which were seized by Russian forces soon after invading on Feb. 24.
"Most recently, we saw Russia's aggression with its seizure of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, the largest such plant in all of Europe," Blinken said.
"Russia is now using the plant as a military base to fire at Ukrainians who know that they can't and won't shoot back because they might accidentally strike a nuclear reactor or highly radioactive waste in storage."
Blinken said the United States chooses to "act with restraint" and avoid actions that could instigate nuclear tensions.
"More than five decades ago at the height of the Cold War, representatives of 18 nations drafted the Treaty for the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In the years that followed, nearly every country on Earth has joined the NPT," Blinken said in his speech.
"Nuclear weapons states moved toward disarmament, including the United States. The number of nuclear weapons in our stockpile is now 90% lower than it was at its height in 1967."
Blinken also noted that North Korea "continues to expand its unlawful nuclear program" and continues its "ongoing provocations against the region."
"As we gather here today, Pyongyang is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test," Blinken said.
He added that Iran, since March, has been "unwilling or unable" to reach a deal on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action to ensure the country does not acquire nuclear weapons.
The State Department said in a news release that the United States plays "a leading role" in ensuring the international community responds to cases of non-compliance with the treaty, which has been signed by 191 countries since it went into effect.
Other speakers scheduled to speak include the foreign affairs ministers for dozens of countries including major U.S. allies such as Britain, Australia, Germany and Norway.
President Joe Biden on Monday released a statement ahead of the beginning of the conference in which he called the United States a "responsible steward of its nuclear arsenal" and said his administration would "continue working toward the ultimate goal of a world without nuclear weapons."
"I've worked on arms control from the earliest days of my career, and the health of the NPT has always rested on meaningful, reciprocal arms limits between the United States and Russian Federation," Biden said.
"Even at the height of the Cold War, the United States and the Soviet Union were able to work together to uphold our shared responsibility to ensure strategic stability."
Biden added that Russia's "brutal and unprovoked aggression in Ukraine has shattered peace in Europe."
"In this context, Russia should demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on nuclear arms control with the United States," Biden said.
Biden said that China "also has a responsibility" as a nuclear weapons state which has signed the treaty "to engage in talks that will reduce the risk of miscalculation and address destabilizing military dynamics."
"The United States is determined to lead by the power of our example," Biden said.
He noted that the United States developed a proposal "to secure a mutual return to full implementation" of the Iran nuclear deal.
"In this moment of uncertainty and upheaval on the global stage, reaffirming our shared commitment to the grounding principles of the global nonproliferation regime has never been more crucial," Biden said.
The United Nations said in a statement that the objective of the non-proliferation treaty beyond preventing the spread of nuclear weapons is to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament.
