29 April 2026 By Ko Myo
NEW YORK, USA — Myanmar’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun, has delivered a scathing assessment of the military junta’s credibility, warning the international community that the regime’s promises—particularly regarding nuclear energy—cannot be trusted.
Speaking on 28 April at the 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at the UN Headquarters in New York, the ambassador expressed the “deep concern” of the Myanmar people over the junta’s growing nuclear partnership with a major nuclear-armed power.
Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun argued that a regime accused of widespread war crimes and crimes against humanity has no standing to claim that its nuclear ambitions are for peaceful purposes. He pointed to the military’s history of concealing its chemical weapons programmes as evidence that it cannot meet the transparency and accountability required for nuclear energy.
“The generals lied about the 2020 election being fraudulent to justify their coup, and they continue to lie about ‘controlling’ a situation that is actually a crisis of their own making,” a Yangon-based political analyst told MPA. “Ambassador Kyaw Moe Tun is reminding the world that these are men who operate entirely outside the truth.”
The ambassador highlighted the junta’s ongoing defiance of UN Security Council Resolution 2669 and the ASEAN Five-Point Consensus as further proof that they would likely flout International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. He insisted that any nuclear cooperation with the regime would legitimise a partner that actively undermines regional peace and stability.
“It is impossible to view the military junta as a reliable partner in any nuclear cooperation,” the ambassador stated, adding that providing such technology to an unaccountable military puts the entire region at risk.
The envoy called for a total cessation of international cooperation with Myanmar on sensitive programmes until the military dictatorship is eradicated and a civilian-led democratic government is restored. Only when the military is under civilian oversight, he argued, should Myanmar be considered for international partnerships, including those involving nuclear energy.
As the junta continues to face isolation from much of the West, it has sought to bolster its ties with strategic allies to advance its technological and military capabilities. However, for the people of Myanmar and their representative at the UN, the prospect of an unaccountable military possessing nuclear technology remains a existential threat that the world cannot afford to ignore.
