US Embassy Slams Decision to Give Prize to Anti-Nuke Group
All western nations with nuclear weapons are scheduled to jointly boycott this year’s Nobel Peace Prize ceremony, protesting the awarding of the prize to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Only Russia and Israel are expected to send a representative.
Historically, all nations send their ambassadors to Norway to the ceremony, but the United States, Britain, and France have all informed Norway of their “reservations” about ICAN, and won’t be sending their envoys.
The US embassy in particular issued a statement condemning the decision to give ICAN the prize, saying that the UN Treaty of the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is worthless, and arguing that the US needs its massive nuclear arsenal.
The US led international opposition to the nuclear weapons ban this year, pushing for the rest of NATO to oppose the deal. While most nuclear nations chose to ignore the deal as non-binding since they aren’t signatories to it, the US has shown a particular eagerness to be very public about how opposed to it they are.
