Germany wants to see concrete steps on nuclear disarmament after P5 statement

The German government welcomed the statement by the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council on the need to avoid nuclear war, but said there needed also to be concrete progress on nuclear disarmament.

"This is an important affirmation by the five nuclear-weapon states of the Non-Proliferation Treaty," the German Foreign Office said on Wednesday. "At the same time, we need concrete steps towards nuclear disarmament in order to move closer to the joint goal of a world without nuclear weapons."

Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States issued a joint statement on Monday saying that there could be no winners in a nuclear war and it must be avoided.