NATO supports the idea of a world without nuclear weapons, but doesn't believe it can be achieved by imposing a ban through the United Nations convention on nuclear weapons, the military alliance's top official said Sunday. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a speech at a security conference in Sweden that ridding the world of nuclear weapons requires a period of "painful disarmament" that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons cannot guarantee. Stoltenberg stressed that NATO's military deterrence strategy relies on a combination of conventional weapons and nuclear weapons. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, or ICAN, has been working to promote the U.N. convention. Pope Francis last week called on nations to work toward a binding nuclear weapons ban, and voiced his concern over the tensions on the Korean peninsula.

Source: ABC News January 14, 2018 17:26 UTC