UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The head of the organization overseeing a treaty banning nuclear testing warned Wednesday that if the United States, Russia or any other nation goes ahead with a test, other nations will follow.
“That is a spiral that we do not want to see start, because it may never be able to be stopped,” Robert Floyd, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, told U.N. correspondents.
Late last year, both the United States and Russia, which have the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, threatened to resume nuclear testing, setting off global alarm bells.
When the treaty known as the CTBT opened for signatures 30 years ago, Floyd said over 2,000 nuclear tests had taken place, but since then there have been fewer than a dozen, including six by North Korea.
Floyd issued his warning as the United Nations this week began its review of a separate treaty meant to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. The review is taking place against the backdrop of the Iran war, which President Donald Trump said was necessary to prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.
The test ban treaty was adopted in 1996 but has not entered into force because it must be ratified by 44 specific countries, and nine of them have not yet done so.
The United States, China, Iran, Egypt and Israel have signed but not ratified the treaty. India, Pakistan and North Korea have neither signed nor ratified. Russia signed and ratified, but revoked its ratification in 2023.
Floyd said a way needs to be found for China, Russia and the U.S. to ratify the treaty together, which he said would “certainly be a powerful step forward.”
China and Russia have said they adhere to a nuclear testing moratorium, but since 2019 the U.S. State Department has publicly expressed concerns about the activities of both countries. At the end of last year, Trump accused Russia and China of conducting tests and said he had instructed the Defense Department to start testing nuclear weapons “on an equal basis.”
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said in response that Russia would only resume nuclear tests if Washington did so first.
Floyd said he was recently in Moscow and made the case to Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov “that it is not in any state’s interest to see an unconstrained return to testing.” He said he has met with U.S. State Department officials and would welcome the opportunity to meet with Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Floyd said the treaty's international monitoring system can detect even a relatively small nuclear weapons explosion anywhere in the world. Any state thinking of developing a nuclear weapon would need to test one and “if they did it will be known to all,” he said.
Rafael Grossi, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General and a candidate for United Nations Secretary-General, speaks during an informal dialogue at U.N. headquarters, Tuesday, April 21, 2026. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Cam York buried the winner 17:32 into overtime and chucked his stick into the crowd in a wild celebration to send the Philadelphia Flyers into the second round for the first time in six years with a 1-0 Game 6 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Wednesday night.
The Flyers are set for a second-round showdown against Carolina.
“Just tried to put it there,” York said. “We knew that it was going to be a greasy one. It felt really good to see that one go in.”
Dan Vladar was again sensational in the net and stopped all 42 shots and prevented the Penguins from playing for a shot at playoff history.
Sidney Crosby and the Penguins tried to become just the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after trailing 3-0. They won two straight games to force Game 6.
It's the Flyers who are moving on in coach Rick Tocchet's first season.
Arturs Silovs made 31 saves.
The last playoff game to head to overtime scoreless was Winnipeg and Edmonton in a 2021 first-round series. The Jets won 1-0 in the first OT.
The Flyers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2020, when they last reached the second round in the bubble season. They played their first series at home since 2018.
“So happy for the guys in that room,” York said. “We battled all year long for this position.”
Silovs, who allowed about four goals per game over his last 10 starts of the regular season, steadied the Penguins in place of the ineffective Stuart Skinner with wins in Games 4 and 5 and about played like a Vezina Trophy winner in Game 6.
Matvei Michkov, the Flyer's leading scorer after the Olympic break, was scratched in Game 5. He returned to the lineup determined to be a postseason difference-maker. He had a great chance on a breakaway but was stopped. The Flyers kept the puck in the offensive zone and Michkov swooped in and tried to poke the puck into the corner of the net, only for Silovs to again clamp down and deny the goal.
The Flyers, the last team in the Eastern Conference to clinch a playoff spot, had 10 giveaways in the first period and made it six straight games in the series without a goal in the first period.
They can try to end that streak against a Hurricanes team that just swept the Ottawa Senators.
Kris Letang dropped Travis Konecny with a right hand as the second period ended and the long-time Penguin started the third in the penalty box. No matter. The Flyers came up empty with the man advantage — Michkov was wide on a one-timer — and they fell at that point to 2 for 17 on the power play in the series.
Vladar played like the team MVP he was in the regular season in willing the Flyers to the second round. Crosby early in the third flicked the puck from behind the net at Vladar. Perhaps auditioning for a spot on the World Cup teams playing in Philadelphia, Vladar headed it like a soccer star over the back of the net and the game remained scoreless.
AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl
Philadelphia Flyers' Sean Couturier (14) and Pittsburgh Penguins' Sidney Crosby (87) meet after the Flyers won Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia Flyers' Cam York (8) celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal during overtime in Game 6 against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Parker Wotherspoon, left, tries to keep the puck away from Philadelphia Flyers' Tyson Foerster during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Bryan Rust, right, attempts to get the puck past Philadelphia Flyers' Dan Vladar during the first period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Ryan Shea, left, is grabbed by Philadelphia Flyers' Luke Glendening during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Pittsburgh Penguins' Parker Wotherspoon (28) collides with Philadelphia Flyers' Tyson Foerster (71) during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Philadelphia Flyers' Travis Konecny, right, leaps past Pittsburgh Penguins' Samuel Girard during the second period of Game 6 in the first round of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs series Wednesday, April 29, 2026, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
