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The United Nations announced Saturday that 50 countries have ratified a U.N. treaty to ban nuclear weapons triggering its entry into force in 90 days, a move hailed by anti-nuclear activists but strongly opposed by the United States and the other major nuclear powers.

As of Friday, the treaty had 49 signatories, and the U.N. said the 50th ratification from Honduras had been received.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres commended the 50 states and saluted 鈥渢he instrumental work" of civil society in facilitating negotiations and pushing for ratification, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

The U.N. chief said the treaty鈥檚 entry into force on Jan. 22 culminates a worldwide movement 鈥渢o draw attention to the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of any use of nuclear weapons鈥� and 鈥渋s a tribute to the survivors of nuclear explosions and tests, many of whom advocated for this treaty,鈥� he said.

Guterres said the treaty 鈥渞epresents a meaningful commitment towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons, which remains the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations,鈥� Mr. Dujarric said.

Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize-winning coalition whose work helped spearhead the nuclear ban treaty, said: 鈥淭his moment has been 75 years coming since the horrific attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the founding of the U.N. which made nuclear disarmament a cornerstone.鈥�

鈥淭he 50 countries that ratify this Treaty are showing true leadership in setting a new international norm that nuclear weapons are not just immoral but illegal,鈥� she said.

The 50th ratification came on the 75th anniversary of the ratification of the U.N. Charter which officially established the U.N. and is celebrated as U.N. Day.

鈥淭he United Nations was formed to promote peace with a goal of the abolition of nuclear weapons,鈥� Ms. Fihn said. 鈥淭his treaty is the U.N. at its best 鈥� working closely with civil society to bring democracy to disarmament.鈥�

The treaty requires that all ratifying countries 鈥渘ever under any circumstances ... develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.鈥� It also bans any transfer or use of nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices 鈥� and the threat to use such weapons 鈥� and requires parties to promote the treaty to other countries.

Once it enters into force all countries that have ratified it will be bound by those requirements.

The U.S. had written to treaty signatories saying the Trump administration believes they made 鈥渁 strategic error鈥� and urging them to rescind their ratification.

The U.S. letter, obtained by The Associated Press, said the five original nuclear powers 鈥� the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, and France 鈥� and America鈥檚 NATO allies 鈥渟tand unified in our opposition to the potential repercussions鈥� of the treaty.

It says the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) 鈥渢urns back the clock on verification and disarmament and is dangerous鈥� to the half-century-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), considered the cornerstone of global nonproliferation efforts.

鈥淭he TPNW is and will remain divisive in the international community and risk further entrenching divisions in existing nonproliferation and disarmament fora that offer the only realistic prospect for consensus-based progress,鈥� the letter said. 鈥淚t would be unfortunate if the TPNW were allowed to derail our ability to work together to address pressing proliferation.鈥�

Ms. Fihn has stressed that 鈥渢he nonproliferation Treaty is about preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and eliminating nuclear weapons, and this treaty implements that. There鈥檚 no way you can undermine the Nonproliferation Treaty by banning nuclear weapons. It鈥檚 the end goal of the Nonproliferation Treaty.鈥�

The NPT sought to prevent the spread of nuclear arms beyond the five original weapons powers. It requires non-nuclear signatory nations to not pursue atomic weapons in exchange for a commitment by the five powers to move toward nuclear disarmament and to guarantee non-nuclear states鈥� access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy.

Rebecca Johnson, a co-founder and first president of the International Campaign to Ban Nuclear Weapons, said: 鈥淭he ban treaty is as much about just making it much more possible for people all around the world to see nobody needs nuclear weapons, and they鈥檙e actually an impediment, an obstacle 鈥� they鈥檙e in the way of dealing with the real security threats we have on the ground from COVID to climate.鈥�

She said in an AP interview that nuclear weapons can鈥檛 prevent or deal with conflicts like the most recent war between Armenia and Azerbaijan over the disputed enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e just in the way, and they鈥檙e highly expensive, and the governments that have them are distracted from the real security issues by trying to constantly pay for these arms races that they鈥檙e still obsessed with.鈥�

Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, said: 鈥淭he simple reality is that the international community could never hope to deal with the consequences of a nuclear confrontation. No nation is prepared to deal with a nuclear confrontation. What we cannot prepare for, we must prevent.鈥�

There are over 14,000 nuclear bombs in the world, thousands of which are ready to be launched in an instant, Mr. Rocca said. The power of many of those warheads is tens of times greater than the weapons dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

Secretary-General Guterres said in an Associated Press interview on Wednesday: 鈥淚t is clear for me that we will only be entirely safe in relation to nuclear weapons the day where nuclear weapons no longer exist. We know that it鈥檚 not easy. We know that there are many obstacles.鈥�

He expressed hope that a number of important initiatives, including U.S.-Russia talks on renewing the New Start Treaty limiting deployed nuclear warheads, missiles and bombers and next year鈥檚 review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, 鈥渨ill all converge in the same direction, and the final objective must be to have a world with no nuclear weapons.鈥�

The treaty was approved by the 193-member U.N. General Assembly on July 7, 2017 by a vote of 122 in favor, the Netherlands opposed, and Singapore abstaining. Among countries voting in favor was Iran. The five nuclear powers and four other countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons 鈥� India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel 鈥� boycotted negotiations and the vote on the treaty, along with many of their allies.

Setsuko Thurlow, a survivor of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima, who has been an ardent campaigner for the treaty, said: 鈥淲hen I learned that we reached our 50th ratification, I was not able to stand.鈥�

鈥淚 remained in my chair and put my head in my hands and I cried tears of joy,鈥� she said in a statement. 鈥淚 have committed my life to the abolition of nuclear weapons. I have nothing but gratitude for all who have worked for the success of our treaty.鈥�

This story was reported by The Associated Press.