Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa pledged Monday to launch a new dialogue framework to start negotiations for a multinational treaty banning the production of nuclear materials that have the potential to be used for weapons.
With Japan holding the U.N. Security Council's monthly chair for March, Kamikawa said at an open briefing session in New York that the "Friends" meeting with like-minded countries is aiming to "enhance political attention" to the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty.
"The international community has become even more divided over how to advance nuclear disarmament," Kamikawa said. "Nevertheless, we must steadily advance realistic and practical efforts toward a world without nuclear weapons."