CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT CONCLUDES DISCUSSION ON THE CESSATION OF THE NUCLEAR ARMS RACE AND NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT
Conference on Disarmament this afternoon concluded its discussion on the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament and, in an informal setting, discussed the draft decision on the programme of work presented by its President.
President of the Conference on Disarmament, Ambassador Duong Chi Dung of Viet Nam, presenting his draft decision on the programme of work, said that it represented an attempt by Viet Nam to move forward the work in the Conference. The draft decision comprised ideas and proposals that had emerged in the course of this year’s work. Taking into account the different view and the need for a balanced document, the language in the proposed draft focused on key elements of a possible programme of work, which might narrow down different positions of Member States. The draft did not aim at an action-oriented outcome as there was not enough time to do so; instead, it aimed to lay the ground for discussions in the Conference without prejudice to a future programme of work.
The consultations on the draft decision took place in an informal setting. At the end of the meeting, the President thanked all the delegations for their constructive contributions during the informal discussion on the draft decision on the programme of work. Those would be taken into account in the next version of the draft decision which would be circulated by Friday 1 August.
The Conference on Disarmament, prior to the informal consultations, concluded the discussion on the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament that had started yesterday, 30 July. Speakers expressed concern about the degradation in the current system of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the rejection of key agreements in this area and objected to the revival of nuclear doctrines that only served to support arms race. Delegations called for universalisation and entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, an important step towards an important goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, and welcomed the positive contacts between Russia and the United States in recent months, which were essential to curb the deterioration of the international security climate. Speaking were Belarus, India, Venezuela, Ukraine, Japan, Germany, Iran, Iraq, Algeria, and the United States.
The Conference approved the request by Armenia to participate as an observer in its 2019 session.
The Conference on Disarmament will next meet on Tuesday 6 August at 10 a.m. to consult on the second draft decision on the programme of work.
Statements
Belarus expressed its concern about the degradation in the current system of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and the rejection of key agreements in this area. As a party to the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Belarus was concerned about the de facto dismantling of this instrument. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty had not yet entered into force despite all the efforts by the international community, Belarus said and urged all countries to strengthen the legal regime of banning nuclear tests and stand together in defending the international peace and security.
India reiterated its commitment to the goal of universal, non-discriminatory and verifiable nuclear disarmament and said that it had made several proposals towards the achievement of the goal of the complete elimination of nuclear weapons in its Working Paper on Nuclear Disarmament as contained in the CD/1816. India remained committed to maintaining a unilateral and voluntary moratorium on nuclear explosive testing and emphasized that the concept of regional strategic stability could never be a viable alternative to global strategic stability. Security concerns of relevant countries were global in nature and not limited to a specific geographical region in which they were located. Any side-tracking into so-called regional approaches would only detract from the main goal of global elimination of nuclear weapons.
Venezuela objected to the revival of nuclear doctrines that served to support arms race and stressed that the total elimination of nuclear weapons was the only guarantee against their use. Venezuela denounced the humanitarian and other implications of the revival of the asymmetrical arms race and called for the ratification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty) to be ratified as the only possible solution. Nuclear risk lied in the very existence of nuclear weapons.
Ukraine strongly believed that complete and irreversible nuclear disarmament was the only guarantee of humanity’s protection from the deadly consequences of the possible use of nuclear weapons. This required a long-term approach with practical steps and effective disarmament measures to be taken by the international community in a transparent, non-discriminatory, verifiable and irreversible manner, building a system of mutually reinforcing instruments for the achievement and maintenance of a world without nuclear weapons. In this context, the universalization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty remained one of the key objectives of the multilateral efforts in the area of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. Ukraine was the seventieth State signatory to the Treaty; with its ratification, Eastern Europe had become the first of the Treaty’s six geographical regions which had fully met the conditions for the Treaty’s entry into force.
Japan noted that the Group of Eminent Persons for Substantive Advancement of Nuclear Disarmament had produced 13 recommendations for the international community known as the “Kyoto Appeal” in which it had called for efforts towards the 2020 Review Conference. As noted in the Appeal, despite divergent views on nuclear disarmament, all States should engage with each other, as this would serve as a first step toward building mutual trust and confidence in the current security environment. Nuclear weapons States should further explain and share information on their nuclear doctrines, deterrence policies, risk reduction measures, and security assurances, among themselves through the P5 process and in parallel with non-nuclear weapons States. All States should contribute to, and develop a needed, forums arbitrary detention processes to address nuclear threat reduction, confidence-building measures, and nuclear disarmament verification.
Germany said that the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was an important step towards an important goal of a world free of nuclear weapons. It was essential to strengthen the norm against nuclear testing through the entry into force of this instrument. Germany regretted the expiration of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty on 2 August and called on Russia to return to full and verifiable compliance in order to save this Treaty, since it was Russia which had deployed the systems incompatible with the Treaty’s provisions. Germany welcomed the recent strategic encounters and contacts between Russia and the United States, which were very important to curb the deterioration of the international security climate and in view of the need not to let the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) run out without an extension or a successor agreement. Structural dialogue, not just between Russia and the United States but with Europe as well, was absolutely important for the European security, Germany stressed.
Iran welcomed the discussion on the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament and said that Iran’s support for nuclear disarmament was based on the conviction that nuclear weapons constituted the most serious threat to human survival and international peace and security. Iran reiterated concern about actions and policies that defied The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the goal of work free of nuclear weapons by many countries, including the United States. In its Nuclear Posture Review, the United States threatened to use nuclear weapons not only in return but also against nuclear weapons States parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This was an implicit invitation to start a new arms race, denounced Iran noting that the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action was one of the greatest achievements of multilateral diplomacy, with which Iran had complied impeccably.
Iraq stressed the importance of the agenda item on nuclear disarmament for the Conference on Disarmament and said that the arguments for preserving nuclear arsenals to maintain international peace and security were contrary to the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Nuclear arsenals lead to the nuclear arms race, regionally and globally, with very serious consequences, stressed Iraq which urged States to stop producing new nuclear weapons and work on non-proliferation. It was thus essential for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to enter into force. Nuclear disarmament was one of the results of non-proliferation, Iraq said and reiterated its support for Nuclear-Weapons-Free-Zones, including the one in the Middle East.
Algeria reiterated its call to all States, especially those from the Annex II, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and enable its entry into force.
United States said that the United States had been and was in compliance with all its obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. The charges levelled against the United States must be looked at in the context of the country that was making accusations: Iran was a leading terrorist State and a leading hostage-taker. The regime’s charges against the United States had no credibility and the regime itself had no credibility, said the United States.
For use of the information media; not an official record