Since the summit of the nuclear powers USA and Russia, there have been hopes that nuclear disarmament could get underway again.
Germany wants to use the momentum together with other countries.
Madrid - Germany and 15 other states have called on the nuclear powers to take concrete disarmament steps.
At a conference of the so-called Stockholm Initiative in Madrid, Federal Foreign Minister Heiko Maas and the other participants welcomed the talks on arms control initiated by the USA and Russia at the summit in Geneva.
In a statement, they urged all nine states armed with nuclear warheads to take “significant steps” to meet their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“A way back on the trail of nuclear disarmament is possible.
But above all, it is urgently needed, ”said Maas.
After the meeting between US President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin almost three weeks ago, it is now “the right moment to propose very specific measures”.
At the same time, however, the SPD politician defended Germany's participation in NATO's nuclear deterrent and thus also the continued existence of nuclear weapons in Germany.
"It's not just about our own protection, but we also take on security guarantees, especially for Eastern European countries," he said.
"And I don't think you can put them up for discussion."
The party and parliamentary leaders of Maas' SPD party are in favor of the withdrawal of the estimated 20 US nuclear weapons that remain in Germany.
In the Social Democrats' election manifesto, however, the demand is formulated in a somewhat more differentiated manner.
One advocates disarmament negotiations between Russia and the USA "with the aim of finally withdrawing and destroying the nuclear weapons stationed in Europe and Germany," it says there.
The 16 states of the Stockholm Initiative have no nuclear weapons.
In addition to Germany, Spain and Sweden, Japan, Canada and Argentina, among others, have joined the group of states that has been campaigning for nuclear disarmament since 2019.
According to the annual report published in June by the Stockholm peace research institute Sipri, the number of nuclear weapons worldwide fell by 320 to 13,080 between the beginning of 2020 and the beginning of 2021.
However, the researchers rate another number as worrying: the number of nuclear warheads that are already mounted on missiles or are on active bases.
Their number rose year-on-year from 3720 to 3825. The USA and Russia added around 50 each.
However, the meeting between Biden and Putin in June brought new hope for concrete disarmament steps. The two heads of state of the largest nuclear powers agreed on talks on arms control, which, according to Russian information, should begin before mid-July. As early as February, Russia and the USA had agreed on an extension of the New Start nuclear disarmament treaty. It limits the nuclear arsenals of both countries to 800 carrier systems and 1,550 ready-to-use nuclear warheads.
Maas was more benevolent than before about the nuclear weapons ban treaty that came into force in January. "We are open to talking about observer status," he said. A total of 122 of the 193 UN members approved the contract in 2017. But none of the presumably nine nuclear powers and also no NATO state were among them. NATO considers the existing treaties to be a more effective basis for concrete disarmament steps. Should Germany take part in the Conference of the Parties as an observer, this would mean an end to the fundamental rejection of the treaty. dpa