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The prohibition on seeking or receiving assistance

In 2024, eleven states engaged in conduct that was not compatible with the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons’ (TPNW) prohibition on seeking or receiving assistance for acts that are unlawful under the Treaty. France, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom all continued to receive various forms of assistance with their ongoing development, production and possession of nuclear weapons. The United Kingdom also received assistance for the deployment of foreign nuclear weapons on its territory, as did Belarus, Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Türkiye. Finally, Poland sought but did not receive assistance for such deployment.

Essai en vol M51 01 Copyright Essais de missiles archives 20210428
including from Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. They allow companies within their jurisdiction to be involved in development, production, and maintenance of key components for French nuclear weapons, including through ArianeGroup, which is responsible for the entire lifecycle, from design to dismantling, of France’s M51 submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM), the M51. The photo was taken on 18 November 2023 in Bicarrosse, France, when ArianeGroup and the French Defense Procurement Agency (DGA) successfully completed the first flight test and key milestone in the development of the third iteration of the M51, the 12 metre long M51.3. Photo: courtesy of ArianeGroup

For more information on the conduct that amounted to seeking or receiving assistance to engage in prohibited acts, see the 2024 edition of the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor.

ARTICLE 1(1)(f) - INTERPRETATION

Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to: ‘Seek or receive any assistance, in any way, from anyone to engage in any activity prohibited to a State Party under this Treaty.’

  • In contrast to Article 1(1)(e) of the TPNW, which prohibits states from assisting prohibited acts by others, Article 1(1)(f) prohibits states from seeking or receiving assistance to violate the Treaty themselves. It does not matter whether or not the assistance is actually received.
  • This precludes any state party from asking any other state or any natural or legal person (i.e., a company) to help it develop, possess, stockpile, test, produce, use, transfer, or receive nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, including where it is sought that foreign nuclear weapons will be stationed or deployed to their territory.
  • A similar prohibition, imposed only on non-nuclear-weapon states, is contained in Article II of the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), though it applies only to manufacture: the undertaking is to ‘not to seek or receive any assistance in the manufacture of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices’.