CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT HEARS STATEMENTS ON THE UNITED NATIONS SECRETARY-GENERAL’S DISARMAMENT AGENDA, PREVENTION OF AN ARMS RACE IN OUTER SPACE, AND OTHER ISSUES
The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, Securing our Common Future, the prevention of an arms race in outer space, and on a number of other issues, and heard an address by Yleem Poblete, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance of the United States.
Walid Doudech, Permanent Representative of Tunisia to the United Nations Office at Geneva and President of the Conference on Disarmament, proposed that the Conference pursue the debate on its mandate and on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament. He also presented draft decision CD/WP.609 to the Conference, which proposed the establishment of an informal working group to discuss issues raised in the United Nations Secretary-General’s agenda for disarmament that were pertinent to the mandate of the Conference. The President said this was an attempt to create new dynamic work and would allow the Conference on Disarmament to examine all possible avenues which could lead it to a programme of work.
Ms. Poblete raised great concern about outer space security and said that the United States’ adversaries had transformed space into a warfighting domain already. America would not shrink from this challenge and would always seek peace in space as on the Earth. Russia was actively pursuing the development and deployment of anti-satellite weapons, despite its political commitment not to be the first to place weapons in outer space. The fundamental question for the Conference was how to discern the intentions behind one country’s actions in space, she said, urging all responsible nations to consider the practical implementation of voluntary transparency and confidence building measures and developing norms of responsible behaviour for outer space activities.
Russia said it shared the United States’ call for disarmament and was ready to take part, however, Russia continued to maintain serious doubts, especially as nothing new was heard in the Assistant Secretary of State’s address, except unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicions. Responding to the accusations related to the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects, Russia noted that constructive contribution by the United States was lacking, and urged all States to introduce amendments and propose alternative solutions, and so get the dialogue going, and improve the draft.
During the plenary, several delegations addressed the United Nations Secretary-General’ disarmament agenda. The United States shared the concerns regarding the deteriorating security environment and noted that the lack of disarmament was a symptom and not a cause of the deteriorating security environment: the real underlining security concerns must be addressed first as they made the retention of nuclear weapons necessary to forestall conflict between the major powers and maintain strategic stability. The Netherlands welcomed the Secretary-General’s personal engagement and focus on disarmament which was very timely as Cold War tensions reappeared in a very complex world. The Netherlands stressed the critical importance of a common vision of a pathway towards a world free of nuclear weapons. Germany said the current challenges were substantial, including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the chemical weapons in Syria, and the future of the Joint Political Plan of Action on Iran. Those challenges were well captured by the United Nations Secretary-General in his new disarmament agenda, said Germany, expressing its full support for the Secretary-General on this road.
Myanmar said that despite the long deadlock and the lack of progress, the Conference remained the best single multilateral forum for disarmament, which was why all Member States should keep trying to find communalities and make progress on a programme of work. Venezuela reiterated its concern about a range of political, ethical and international peace and security questions related to autonomous weapons systems, saying it was particularly concerned about the illegal use of armed drones, noting the recent assassination attempt on the life of President Maduro. China said that outer space was a common asset of humankind, thus China was opposed to turning it into a battlefield, for which the efforts of all States were required.
The Conference welcomed the two new representatives of Germany and Myanmar.
The United States and Russia spoke in right of reply
Tuesday, 21 August is a day off at the United Nations. The President said the date of the next plenary meeting of the Conference on Disarmament will be communicated later.
Statements
WALID DOUDECH, Permanent Representative of Tunisia and President of the Conference on Disarmament, proposed that the Conference pursue the debate on its mandate and on the United Nations Secretary-General’s Agenda for Disarmament, and also to consider draft decision CD/WP.609 pertaining to the programme of work for the Conference.
YLEEM POBLETE, Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control, Verification and Compliance of the United States, in her address to the Conference, raised great concern about outer space security, noting that Earth’s most valuable orbits were becoming increasingly congested and there were possibilities of intentional aggression in space. Like many others, the United States would have preferred that the space domain remained free of conflict. It remained concerned about the challenges of irresponsible behaviour that might result in dangerous misinterpretations and miscalculations. The new National Strategy for Space called for protecting the United States’ vital interests in space, while the Department of Defence had been directed on June 18 to begin the process to establish a Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. The United States’ adversaries had transformed space into a warfighting domain already, and the United States would not shrink from this challenge. America would always seek peace in space as on the Earth.
The United States had raised concerns over many years that Russia was actively pursuing the development and deployment of anti-satellite weapons, said the Assistant Secretary of State, noting that Mr. Putin had unveiled during his State of the Nation Speech on 1 March 2018, no less than six new major offensive weapon systems. This behaviour continued despite Russia’s declared priority placed on the promotion of the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects, the negotiation of which Russia, together with its partner China, had sought to start in this Conference. And yet, Russia’s recent outer space activities appeared contrary to the provisions of this draft Treaty and its political commitment not to be the first to place weapons in outer space. For the Conference on Disarmament, said Ms. Poblete, this raised fundamental, concrete questions on the ability to discern the intentions behind one country’s actions in space, especially since the draft Treaty proposed by Russia would allow the very activities it claimed to prohibit. That was why responsible nations should be considering the practical implementation of voluntary transparency and confidence building measures and developing norms of responsible behaviour for outer space activities, rather than pursuing a protracted and contentious legally binding treaty, said the Assistant Secretary of State, urging all States to take concrete steps to strengthen the safety, stability and sustainability of space.
Germany remarked that the Conference did not operate in a political vacuum and that the current challenges were substantial, including the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, chemical weapons in Syria, and the future of the Joint Political Plan of Action on Iran, to which Germany attached greatest importance. Those challenges were well captured by the United Nations Secretary-General in his new disarmament agenda, said Germany, expressing its full support for the Secretary-General on this road and hoping for the establishment of a broad coalition of countries in that respect. The most important challenges the Conference should get a handle on were new technologies, the risk of cyberwarfare, and the risks emanating from the breath-taking advances from life sciences, which must be done in respect for the rules of international order and in partnership with civil society.
Myanmar said that despite the long deadlock the Conference found itself in and the lack of progress, the Conference on Disarmament remained the best and single multilateral forum for disarmament. That was why all Member States should keep trying to find communalities and make progress on a programme of work. Nuclear disarmament was among highest agenda points for Myanmar, which would continue to pursue a policy of the total elimination of nuclear weapons, and continue to be actively engage in all relevant disarmament fora.
Venezuela said that the debate on autonomous weapons systems, and how it would change war, was gathering pace and stressed that this debate must be pursued by the international community. The Non-Aligned Movement Summit in Baku in April 2018 had considered numerous political, ethical and international peace and security questions raised by the autonomous weapons systems, Venezuela said, noting that their use must be examined through the lens of international human rights law and international humanitarian law. The use of such technology should be devoted to the progress of humankind, and machines must not be given power of deciding over life and death decisions, without any human input. Venezuela was particularly concerned about the illegal use of armed drones, noting the recent assassination attempt on the life of President Maduro, which was condemned by all peace loving nations. Venezuela, a peace-loving country, defended the prohibition of the production, transfer and use of autonomous weapons systems.
United States, in its comments on the United Nations Secretary-General agenda for disarmament, shared the concern regarding the deteriorating security environment and stressed that countering proliferation was central to the maintenance of international peace and security. The existing norms against chemical and biological weapons must be respected, and any use must be investigated and those responsible identified and held accountable, thus the intention to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations to investigate allegations of the use of biological weapons and mount an effective response to the use of such horrific weapons was welcomed. The lack of disarmament was not a cause of the deteriorating security environment, it was its symptom, said the United States, stressing that the real underlining security concerns must be addressed first, as they made the retention of nuclear weapons necessary to forestall conflict between the major powers and maintain strategic stability. The deteriorating security conditions made the long-term prospects for nuclear disarmament bleak. Before pursuing disarmament, the international community must work to improve the global security environment, address the current trust and confidence deficit, and restore trust among States.
There were several elements in the Secretary-General’s disarmament agenda that the United States would not endorse, such as the support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons which many States had not supported, including all nuclear weapons States, or the failure of the multilateral arms control organizations when the real reason for failure lay with certain States and the inability to agree on a common way ahead. The United States disagreed with the Secretary-General’s assertion of a new Cold War, and also with the fact that the Agenda tended to lump together the behaviour and values of the responsible large powers into the same “bad actors’ basket”. “We are not all the same and we are not equally to blame for decreasing lack of trust and confidence in the current security environment,” said the United States. It was a matter of concern that the Agenda took parts of the overarching security equation, such as international humanitarian law of armed conflict, the arms trade, humanitarian demining and explosive ordinance disposal, and reinvented them as “tools of disarmament”, which was not helpful to the ongoing discussions and programmes on those topics.
Netherlands welcomed the Secretary-General’s personal engagement and focus on disarmament which was very timely as Cold War tensions reappeared in a very complex world. The Conference on Disarmament dealt with disarmament, and discussing how the United Nations shaped this important topic was relevant and necessary. The Netherlands stressed the critical importance of a common vision of a pathway towards a world free of nuclear weapons, thus the 2020 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Review Conference should include a renewed and common vision of nuclear disarmament. An important step towards a nuclear weapons free world was the ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices, as were robust options for nuclear disarmament verifications, and risk reductions.
The Netherlands also highlighted the important role of mine action and humanitarian demining, which contributed to stability, reconstruction and socio-economic development and was a catalyst for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Another issue which the Netherlands emphasised was accountability and adherence to emerging norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviour in cyberspace, where malicious activity was still incentivised by an impression of impunity. Non-State actors such as the private sector, civil society and academia, had an outsized role in cyberspace; they had responsibilities and should be involved in the discussion.
Russia shared the United States’ call for disarmament and was ready to take part, however, Russia continued to maintain serious doubts, especially as nothing new was heard in the Assistant Secretary of State’s address, except unfounded, slanderous accusations based on suspicions. Russia based its policies and diplomacy on the basis of carefully verified concrete facts, said the Ambassador, saying that it would have been easier to accept criticism from a State which had absolute respect for international law and not from a representative of the United States “which had shown a negative example of flouting basic, fundamental standards of international law”. One most recent flagrant violation was the United States’ unilateral withdrawal from the Joint Plan of Action on Iran which had been approved by a United Nations Security Council resolution.
All new weapons had been developed in strict compliance with the norms in the disarmament sphere, of which the United States had been duly informed, so how was it possible to criticize Russia now, wondered the Ambassador. As for the Chemical Weapons Convention, Russia had informed – three years early – of the destruction of its chemical weapons arsenal, some 40,000 tonnes of military grade material. At the same time, the most economically developed nation in the world, the United States, had not followed suit, and had not destroyed its chemical weapons stockpiles, which were much smaller in size.
Responding to the accusations related to the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects, Russia noted that constructive contribution by the United States was lacking, and urged all States to introduce amendments and propose alternative solutions, and so get the dialogue going, and improve the draft. There were two crucial requirements in the current draft, which were no placement of weapons in outer space and no use of force against space assets, and Russia urged all States to contribute to the draft treaty, which could only be a result of multilateral efforts. But most importantly, all the allegations of the United States had been launched to hide the recently approved Congressional bill on national defence spending in 2019 which would fund the formation of outer space capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles.
China said that the draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects had been supported by a great majority of States and hoped that negotiations on this treaty could be launched at an early date. With adequate political will, any concerns could be resolved through the negotiations. Outer space, stressed China, was a common asset of humankind, thus China was opposed to turning it into a battlefield, for which the efforts of all States were required.
United States said that the Assistant Secretary of State was very clear on her indictment of the very flawed draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects. The United States had tried to work with Russia and China to improve this draft treaty, who – although the draft treaty would not garner a consensus in this body - continued to push it down the throat of the States. The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action on Iran, said the Ambassador, was not an international law, but an international agreement. The United States was committed to destroying its chemical weapons stockpiles according to the established timetable. Russia had meddled in the United States elections, and in other elections, this must stop. The legislation put forward by the Congress that Russia had referred to proposed the funding of the feasibility – and not the building of – the space-based ballistic missile intercept layer.
Russia urged the United States - if it was really interested in keeping space free from any kind of weapons - to submit its own draft Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects.
United States said that space arms control at the moment was not verifiable, which had been addressed in dialogues with Russia and China.
Russia said that the Russia-China drafted Treaty on the Prevention of the Placement of Weapons in Outer Space, the Threat of Use of Force against Outer Space Objects remained the only such document, and that the United States had made statements, but not in writing, on the topic.
WALID DOUDECH, Permanent Representative of Tunisia and President of the Conference on Disarmament, said that, following his bilateral consultations and given the discussions in the Conference at its meeting on 7 August and today, and in order to seek a consensus on a programme of work, in line with his mandate, he proposed to establish an informal working group as contained in a draft decision CD/WP.609 to discuss issues raised in the United Nations Secretary-General’s agenda for disarmament that were pertinent to the mandate of the Conference. This was an attempt to create new dynamic work and would allow the Conference on Disarmament to examine all possible avenues which could lead it to a programme of work.
For use of the information media; not an official record
DC18.36E