UNITED NATIONS, March 27 (Xinhua) -- The 2020 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference will be postponed, possibly by a year, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, said the United Nations on Friday.
"In light of the situation related to the COVID-19 pandemic, states parties have decided to postpone the 2020 Review Conference ... to a later date, as soon as the circumstances permit, but no later than April 2021," said the press office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Information on the new dates of the conference will be posted in due course, said the press office in a note to correspondents.
The 2020 Review Conference was originally scheduled for April 27-May 22 at UN Headquarters in New York.
Gustavo Zlauvinen, president-designate of the conference, on March 13 proposed postponing the event after a short, procedural meeting on April 27. But the quick spread of the coronavirus in New York City and the partial closure of the UN headquarters from March 16 have obviously made even a procedural meeting impossible.
Zlauvinen had to write to states parties seeking their agreement on his new proposal, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for Guterres, on Thursday.
NPT Review Conferences have been held every five years since 1975.
