Foreign Minister Yohei Kono said Friday he has received a letter from U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright saying that the U.S. government will again urge the Senate to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.
In the letter, dated Monday, Albright pointed out that the U.S. government will again call on the Senate to ratify the CTBT, a global pact to ban nuclear testing, and that the U.S. will not conduct tests involving nuclear explosions, Kono said.
Albright said the U.S. welcomes Japan's longtime efforts to promote the global regime of nuclear nonproliferation and nuclear arms reduction, Kono said.
She also praised Tokyo's leadership, asserted by former Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura, during a recent international conference in Geneva to promote the treaty's ratification.
Albright was writing in response to a letter Kono sent calling for further U.S. efforts for the treaty's ratification, Kono said. Kono's letter was presented to Albright last week in Washington by State Foreign Secretary Ichita Yamamoto.
Last week, the Republican-controlled Senate defied President Bill Clinton and refused to ratify the CTBT.