COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — Three nuclear powers will send deputy chief of missions — not ambassadors — to the Dec. 10 ceremony for the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, in what the recipient is calling a "snub."

ICAN, which was cited for its work that led to an international nuclear weapons ban treaty, said it considered the "ambassador boycott" an attempt to withhold "credibility" from an international nuclear weapons ban treaty that is has worked for.

The U.S. Embassy in Oslo said Thursday that the United States, Britain and France agreed not to send their top diplomats.

The mission said Washington will not sign a treaty advocating the abolishment of nuclear weapons, saying that would not make the world more peaceful" and "ignores the current security challenges."