The U.S., the U.K. and France are among nearly 40 countries that are not taking part in a series of UN talks in New York starting Monday for the "total elimination" of nuclear weapons.

The U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, was joined Monday morning by her U.K. counterpart Matthew Rycroft and French Deputy Ambassador Alexis Lamek in a stakeout at the UN headquarters in New York City.

"You are going to see almost 40 countries that are not in the General Assembly today,” Haley said.

“In this day and time, we cannot honestly say that we can protect our people by allowing the bad actors to have them and those of us that are good -- trying to keep peace and safety -- not to have them.”

She said the countries skipping the talks would instead reaffirm commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has been in force since 1970.

Rycroft said the U.K. was not attending the negotiations "because we do not believe that those negotiations will lead to effective progress on global nuclear disarmament".

Ankara has also announced it would not participate in the talks.

Diplomatic sources told Anadolu Agency Turkey shared the goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, but the current talks were not "the right method".

The decision to "negotiate a legally-binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination” was approved by the General Assembly in December.

Last week, the White House said President Donald Trump's administration would conduct an examination of whether a world free of nuclear weapons was "a realistic goal".

The U.S. is upgrading its nuclear military capabilities as part of a program authorized by former President Barack Obama. The program forecasts expenditures to the tune of $1 trillion over the next three decades.

AA