The Group of Eight industrialized nations plans this week to issue a joint statement calling for definitive steps toward worldwide nuclear disarmament, the Jiji Press Service reported (see GSN, June 30).
The leaders of the eight nations -- Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States -- are scheduled tomorrow to begin a three-day summit in L'Aquila, Italy. There they are expected to call on all nuclear-armed nations to take action toward relinquishing their arsenals.
They will also back the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to a tentative version of the statement (see GSN, June 16).
The group plans to reaffirm its previous condemnation of North Korea's recent nuclear and long-range missile tests, the draft indicates (see GSN, June 26).
The leaders are expected to address Iran's suspected pursuit of nuclear weapons as well, recommending diplomatic means to end the standoff (Jiji Press Service, July 6).