France said that nuclear countries bear a special responsibility.

Nuclear countries bear a special responsibility for the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons, friends from the USA, Great Britain, Russia and China know this,  the head of the French Ministry of Defense Sebastien Lecornu said.

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“I think that nuclear powers have a special responsibility in the fight against proliferation, I say this as a (representative of) a nuclear country. Our American and British friends know this, our Russian and Chinese friends also know this,” Lecornu said during the speech at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit in Singapore.

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The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT, 1968, in force since 1970) stated that only five countries possess nuclear weapons (USSR, USA, Great Britain, France and China), and prohibited the emergence of new nuclear powers. The Nuclear Five pledged not to transfer nuclear weapons to other countries or assist in their creation, and the remaining parties to the treaty pledged not to accept or create an atomic bomb.