Austria on Tuesday called for a ban on nuclear weapons because of their catastrophic humanitarian effects, an initiative it said now has the backing of 159 countries.
Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz was speaking at the five-year review conference of the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"The only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons will never be used again is through their total elimination," Kurz told the 191 parties to the treaty, the world's benchmark arms control accord. "All states share the responsibility to prevent the use of nuclear weapons."