US, Russia, China, others sit out nuclear ban talks at UN

British Ambassador to the United Nations Matthew Rycroft speaks to reporters outside the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, March 27, 2017. Rycroft and other supporting countries were not participating in a meeting about prohibiting nuclear weapons, claiming that it was not the right time to do so in consideration of other countries that are trying to develop the weapons. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (The Associated Press)

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Surrounded by other supporting countries, United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, center, speaks to reporters outside the General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Monday, March 27, 2017. Haley and the other representatives were not participating in a meeting about prohibiting nuclear weapons, claiming that it was not the right time to do so in consideration of other countries that are trying to develop the weapons. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) (The Associated Press)

The United States, Russia, China and more than a score of other countries are sitting out new talks at the United Nations toward a treaty that would ban nuclear weapons.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley and colleagues from Britain, France and about 20 other nations gathered Monday outside the General Assembly to show opposition to the talks starting inside. Haley says the U.S. wants a nuclear-weapons-free world but has to be "realistic" about how to get there while protecting its people.

She says the U.S. has already reduced its nuclear weapons by 85 percent under the decades-old Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

More than 100 countries backed a General Assembly resolution that set up the talks. Backers of the proposed treaty say prohibiting nuclear weapons would be a powerful step toward eliminating them.

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