NPT Preparatory Committee concludes without adopting recommendations or a decision on strengthening the review process

10 May 2026

After two weeks of discussions and some final negotiations behind closed doors, the third Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2026 NPT Review Conference (RevCon) ended without adopting recommendations for the RevCon. Despite efforts by the Chair, the PrepCom also did not adopt the draft decision he had put forward on strengthening the NPT review process.

The meeting did agree to the dates and venue for the RevCon—27 April–22 May 2026 in New York—and it elected the president of the RevCon—Viet Nam—and adopted a procedural report. But the PrepCom’s lacklustre finish reflected the overarching problem of the NPT: the nuclear-armed states and some of their complicit allies refuse to comply with their legally binding obligation to eliminate nuclear weapons.

Whatever justifications they thrown around about “complex international security environments” or “geostrategic instabilities,” the bottom line is that the five states parties to the NPT that possess nuclear weapons, and a handful of their friends, refuse to implement international law that they ratified and continue to claim to value. As we head to another review conference next year, NPT states parties need to ask themselves what kind of world building do they need to engage upon, and what acts of solidarity are necessary to prevent massive nuclear violence in the meantime?

Throughout the NPT PrepCom, RCW has posted statements, documents, information about side events, and more. See our website for materials and our reports and analysis.

Next week, we will be active at the UN informal consultations on autonomous weapon systems. Read our blog for information about what we'll be doing at the meeting and subscribe to our AWS Diplomacy Report to follow the action!