Conference on Disarmament Approves Requests by Non-Member States to Participate in its Work as Observers in 2022

The Conference on Disarmament this morning approved requests by non-member States to participate in its work as observers during it 2022 session. It also heard statements by Iran, New Zealand, Germany on behalf of the Stockholm Initiative, Switzerland, Zimbabwe, Brazil, Mexico and Algeria.

Following is the list of non-member States, which was adopted as a whole: Albania, Angola, Armenia, Bahrain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Holy See, Jordan, Kuwait, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Panama, Philippines, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of Moldova, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Thailand, United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

At the end of the meeting, Ambassador Li Song of China (Disarmament), President of the Conference on Disarmament, thanked all delegations for supporting the President, including on the request for participation by non-member States. This was the result of joint efforts by all parties and it was his hope that this kind of genuine multilateralism spirit would accompany the work of the Conference to exercise its mandate. For two weeks now, China had had preliminary communications with many members of the Conference through bilateral and multilateral meetings and the Conference had held three plenary meetings. He had listened carefully to statements made by Member States on the work of the Conference, its programme of work and other issues. Concerning the programme of work, he had noted that promoting substantive progress in the work of the Conference was a common wish of all members of the Conference, and all recognised the important role played by subsidiary bodies in this respect.

Mr. Li said he would focus on some essential elements that were conducive to the substantive work of the Conference, that was to say the establishment of subsidiary bodies according to the agenda items of the Conference to carry out substantive work in a comprehensive and balanced way. In this process, they should keep in mind the fundamental mandate of the Conference. He was working with the P-6 on a draft to be circulated as early as possible for the consideration of the Conference next week. This was for in-depth consideration of the programme of work.

At the same time, Mr. Li said many delegations had mentioned the gender issue in their statements. As President he had the responsibility to engage in necessary communication with Member States to seek feasible solutions. The Conference had already had thorough discussions on this issue last year, so he did not find it necessary to dedicate a plenary for this discussion. All the work he would carry out as President would take place in the form of informal consultations.

Russia and Ukraine spoke in right of reply.

The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will take place at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 8 February in conference room XVII of the Palais des Nations.

Statements

Ambassador LI SONG of China (Disarmament), President of the Conference on Disarmament, invited the Conference to consider the request of non-member States to participate in the work of the Conference during its the 2022 session. Since there was no objection, the Conference adopted the list of countries as a whole.

Iran said it attached great importance to the Conference on Disarmament and upholding its integrity and efficiency, as well as its inclusiveness, should be the top priority for all its members. The observer status of the Conference was a very important position and these countries needed to show their commitment to the Conference’s mandate and terms of reference. Iran welcomed all observers who requested to observe the deliberations of the Conference in its 2022 session. All should help the Conference to use this precious time to focus on its core mandate, instead of politicising the body with disinformation. All United Nations Member States should have the opportunity to participate in all multilateral fora in a fair and balanced manner. Selective multilateralism was not an approach that Iran supported.

Ambassador LI SONG of China (Disarmament), President of the Conference on Disarmament, said as witnessed, the Conference had made encouraging progress on the participation of non-member States in its work, which had laid a solid foundation for a smooth start and substantive work of the Conference this year. This was the result of the joint efforts of all the members of the Conference. All shared the same goal to respect the legitimate right of every United Nations Member State to participate in multilateral work in various fields. He thanked all parties for their support. He invited States to make statements on the programme of work for the 2022 session of the Conference.

New Zealand said that developments in international security and disarmament had been trending downwards for some years now. Governments must find ways to reduce tensions, build trust and renew cooperation on the critical issues of disarmament and arms control. The Conference must agree on a programme of work promptly. New Zealand remained deeply concerned about the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, including the continuing and unprecedented build-up of Russian military forces on its border with Ukraine. It called on Russia to take steps to reduce tensions and the risk of a severe miscalculation. Words must mean something, and commitments given must be implemented. New Zealand welcomed the joint statement by the five Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty nuclear-weapon States, which had affirmed that a nuclear war could never be won and must never be fought. Issued as it was against the backdrop of increasingly acute strategic tension, it was imperative that it was now reinforced by concrete action. Later this year, delegations to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty would meet for its tenth Review Conference. In view of linkages between the Treaty and the priorities of the Conference on Disarmament – and irrespective of differing treaty obligations – there was much the Conference could do to help.

New Zealand staunchly supported the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and was pleased to see the gathering strength of the Treaty, which sent a strong signal that the very existence of nuclear weapons was untenable. The detonation of even a single nuclear weapon would have catastrophic humanitarian consequences. The disarmament calendar this year remained as busy as ever. New Zealand was active across issues of concern. New Zealand supported international efforts to respond to the repeated missile tests conducted by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in violation of United Nations Security Council resolutions, and to encourage a positive conclusion to the resumed negotiations on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran. Achieving a positive resolution to both of these issues was important for the global non-proliferation regime and for international peace and security. On other issues, New Zealand strongly supported the principle of open access to all States who wished to be observers of the Conference. It also supported many delegations that had consistently advocated for gender-neutral language to be adopted by the Conference on Disarmament within its rules of procedure.

Germany read out a statement by the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament, which said that the Stockholm Initiative for Nuclear Disarmament was encouraged by the joint statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races by China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States on 3 January 2022. A nuclear war could not be won and must never be fought. The affirmation of this important truth by all five Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty nuclear-weapon States collectively was a welcome development, which the Stockholm Initiative strongly supported and expected to contribute to the strengthening of the Treaty.

Today, dialogue and cooperation between the P-5 were more important than ever before to reduce tensions and the risk of escalation. But in order to move closer to the common goal of a world free of nuclear weapons, concrete measures towards nuclear disarmament were also urgently needed. The Stockholm Initiative had presented a feasible way forward in this regard, one that was both realistic and ambitious, through its two joint working papers: Stepping Stones for Advancing

Nuclear Disarmament and A Nuclear Risk Reduction Package. The Initiative urged all States parties, in particular the nuclear-weapon States, to positively consider these proposals.

In its national capacity, Germany welcomed all observers who were joining the Conference’s work this year and commended the President for his efforts in this regard.

Switzerland hoped that the tenth Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty could be held as soon as possible. The joint statement made by nuclear-weapon States under the Treaty to prevent a nuclear war and arms race was praised, especially that a nuclear war could never be won and should never be fought. The need to provide a multilateral response was not something that only related to the challenges posed by nuclear disarmament, but applied to other issues like security in outer space. The Conference on Disarmament should play a central role in finding multilateral responses to security challenges. The fact that it had been unable to implement its mandate for more than 25 years led to serious and urgent questions. The Conference had a whole list of issues on its agenda that were all challenges to international stability and all required a rapid launching of negotiations in order to find appropriate responses. However, the international situation did not seem to have evolved in a way to allow the Conference to make that step in the near future. Switzerlandhoped the Conference could focus on substance and make progress on discussions on the whole range of issues on its agenda. One possibility was to come back to a simplified programme of work that simply structured the work of the Conference and was not linked to the adoption of a mandate for negotiation. Another possibility was to establish subsidiary bodies that focused on different agenda items with a mandate to ensure progress on questions of substance with a view to launching negotiations.

Switzerland was very flexible considering the approach to take to make progress in the Conference, but one element was crucial. The approach that prevailed in the Conference today, which was all or nothing and prevented all work, should be reviewed. On the issue of inclusiveness, Switzerland noted that the Conference was not universal in its composition, even though the issues discussed in it related to all Member States of the United Nations. In that context, it was even more important that the Conference was able to involve in its work all States that would like to do so. Switzerland praised that the Conference had invited all non-member States that had requested observer status to participate in its work and praised the President’s work on this. Switzerland regretted that the Conference was unable to reach a decision on an update of its rules of procedure last year in order to ensure equality between female and male delegates and hoped progress could be achieved on it this year.

Zimbabwe said the Conference was meeting against the backdrop of a seriously deteriorating global security situation, one which should be of great concern to all, and should make all focus on the critical need to bring the work of the Conference on Disarmament back to life to discuss live issues, including new or emerging security issues. All should find a way for the Conference to go back to its treaty negotiating mandate, and the political will to begin that migration. Zimbabwe warmly welcomed the 3 January joint statement issued by the P-5 on the prevention of nuclear war, which sent a powerful message to all in the Conference that there was much work to do. In the past two decades whilst the Conference had basically been marking time, new technologies, weapon systems and delivery systems, some with obvious nuclear and mass destruction capabilities, had been deployed. The possibility of dirty bombs falling in the hands of extremists remained real and the last decade had seen an alarming rise of such extremism on the African continent and in other places, further compounding the already significant developmental challenges posed by climate change and the pandemic.

Zimbabwe had a very small voice in the Conference but it was determined to play a constructive and positive role in support of its own vision of a nuclear-free world and the total elimination of all nuclear weapons, the only cast-iron guarantee against their use. The key to making progress was to reach some sort of agreement on a programme of work. During Zimbabwe’s presidency of the Conference in 2019, it had supported the concept of a multi-year programme of work to promote continuity across sessions. If they could not agree on a programme of work, and if the consensus on the subsidiary body format remained elusive, then clearly a return to thematic discussions was an option, but in Zimbabwe’s view it was the least-best option. On observer status, Zimbabwe believed that the Conference should be inclusive and it welcomed the very constructive start of the Conference on this issue this morning and commended the President for his role.

Brazil said that as the signs of instability and belligerence were increasing, a sign in the other direction was ever more valuable. A working Conference on Disarmament would be an antidote to the concerning trends towards diplomatic deadlock and even military conflict. More than ever, Conference members must seek a common way to allow the Conference to fully discharge its duties as the sole multilateral disarmament negotiating forum. A decision to structure the work of the Conference would send positive ripples across all disarmament regimes in this watershed year. Despite considerable efforts in the past, the Conference had not been able to adopt a programme of work by consensus for more than a decade. It was all the more essential that the Conference used the diplomatic tools it had to effectively build trust, find areas of consensus, and establish a dialogue on how it could improve the international security environment. Brazil welcomed the extension of the New Start Treaty by the United States and the Russian Federation. As a member of the New Agenda Coalition, Brazil had already conveyed its views of the P-5 joint statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races.

In the next few weeks, the first meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group created by resolution 76/231, on reduction of space threats, would convene in Geneva. Brazil welcomed this as a much-needed opportunity to address growing tensions related to the potential weaponisation of space and to threats to space systems. Also in February 2022, the Group of Governmental of Experts to further consider nuclear disarmament verification issues would be pursuing its important work on analysing verification tools and formats to face the challenges set forth in its mandate. The Group would need to be innovative while taking into account successful experiences of the past. Among the main issues to be tackled by the disarmament community in Geneva this year was the follow-up process of the Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems. The work of this mechanism must be preserved to ensure the development of a normative and operational framework for autonomous weapons systems. Brazil believed the Group could achieve a concrete, comprehensive and trustworthy result.

Mexico said over the last few years, the Conference had been facing a real difficult crossroad, bearing in mind the international security situation. The world was seeing a possible war emerging in Europe and strategic clashes between powers; history could teach what the catastrophic results of that may be. The arms race and increased weaponisation the world could be seen in southeast Asia, the Middle East, the Sea of China and elsewhere. Mexico was convinced that multilateral diplomacy was the way to address all concerns in terms of disarmament and non-proliferation. Given the pressing situation, it was vital that the Conference on Disarmament went back to its function as the main negotiating body for disarmament. The issues on the agenda of the Conference remained extremely topical for negotiation. In order to get out of more than 25 years of deadlock, the Conference needed to have a programme of work that was in line with its negotiating mandate. Mexico was ready to adopt a programme of work which validated the informal deliberations. It was open to using all the tools available under the rules of procedure, such as establishing subsidiary bodies, including in formal sessions to ensure that words did not simply disappear.

Mexico had always supported improving the work of the Conference, and this might mean changing the rules of procedure, like the rotation system of the Presidents; improving the inclusiveness of its work, including civil society, women and young people; and the rigid rule of consensus. Mexico welcomed the decision to invite all non-member States that requested to participate as observers in the work of the Conference and praised the President for his role. Mexico also supported the technical adaptation of the Conference’s rules of procedure to make them gender neutral and hoped it would be reconsidered.

Algeria highly valued the important step of approving all non-member States that requested to participate as observers in the work of the Conference and hoped this would continue.

Russian Federation, speaking in right of reply in response to statements made in previous meetings of the Conference, said the representatives of several countries had accused Russia of exacerbating tensions and aggressive intentions that Russia allegedly had. Such statements were bewildering as they did not have any objective analysis of the situation. The situation was the result of many years of destructive and well-thought steps taken by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and some members of the Organization. The so-called policy of deterrence of Russia was nothing more than exerting constant and unprecedented military and political pressure on Russia in different forms and constituted a hybrid war against Russia. It ignored the legitimate security concerns of Russia. The current worrying security situation in Europe, to put it mildly, was the result of a multi-year consistent and deliberate anti-Russian policy by the North Atlantic Alliance, in stark contrast with the policy of Russia that was aimed at building constructive dialogue with all countries.

As for the comments made by the representative of Ukraine, Russia said that she had made unfounded and absurd allegations repeated by Ukraine in various multilateral fora. The objective of Ukraine was to justify and hide the inability and unwillingness of the leadership of Ukraine to resolve internal problems and to take direct steps to resolve the situation in the southeast of the country.

Ukraine , speaking in right of reply, said Ukraine would make a right of reply in the next plenary.

Ambassador LI SONG of China (Disarmament), President of the Conference on Disarmament, said he would like to share some of his views before closing the meeting today. He thanked all delegations for supporting the President, including on the request for participation by non-member States. This was the result of joint efforts by all parties and it was his hope that this kind of genuine multilateralism spirit would accompany the work of the Conference to exercise its mandate. For two weeks now, China had had preliminary communications with many members of the Conference through bilateral and multilateral meetings and the Conference had held three plenary meetings. He had listened carefully to statements made by Member States on the work of the Conference, its programme of work and other issues. Concerning the programme of work, he had noted that promoting substantive progress in the work of the Conference was a common wish of all members of the Conference, and all recognised the important role played by subsidiary bodies in this respect.

The President said that his idea was to focus on some essential elements that were conducive to the substantive work of the Conference, that was to say the establishment of subsidiary bodies according to the agenda items of the Conference to carry out substantive work in a comprehensive and balanced way. In this process, they should keep in mind the fundamental mandate of the Conference. He was working with the P-6 on a draft to be circulated as early as possible for the consideration of the Conference next week. This was for in-depth consideration of the programme of work. At the same time, many delegations had mentioned the gender issue in their statements. As President he had the responsibility to engage in necessary communications with Member States to seek feasible solutions. The Conference had already had thorough discussion of this issue last year, so he did not find it necessary to dedicate a plenary for this discussion. All the work he would carry out as President would take place in the form of informal consultations. The next plenary would be held on Tuesday, 8 February, at 10 a.m. in conference room XVII of the Palais des Nations.

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