Strengthening the non-proliferation and disarmament system against growing global instability: UK statement at UN First Committee

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Mr Chair

The maintenance of international peace and security, including through the suppression of  acts of aggression, is one of the fundamental purposes of the United Nations and at the core  of this Committee’s mandate. Article 2 of the Charter prohibits the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State. On 24 February this year, the  Russian Federation trampled over those fundamental principles by launching an unprovoked  and barbaric invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine.

Over seven months into this war, its disastrous impact – on Ukraine, on Russia, and on the  world – is clear.

And now, President Putin’s efforts to incorporate Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and  Kherson into the territory of the Russian Federation constitute a new low point in Russia’s  blatant flouting of international law, and a further violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty and  territorial integrity.

The United Kingdom is proud to stand in solidarity with the Government and people of  Ukraine, as they fight for their freedom and independence.

Mr Chair

Russia’s aggression has also cast a long shadow over international disarmament negotiations.

Unable to acknowledge the consequences of its war for the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty  – including issuing grossly irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, undermining security assurances  by flouting the Budapest Memorandum, and recklessly endangering the safety of Europe’s  largest nuclear power plant – Russia alone blocked the adoption by consensus of a final  document at the Tenth Review Conference in August.

Russia also tried – and failed – to airbrush from the record the criticisms it faced at the  Conference on Disarmament this year.

Russia has attempted to exploit the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention by deliberately  misrepresenting peaceful public health cooperation between the United States and Ukraine  as a biological weapons programme. The Formal Consultative Meeting convened under  Article V last month demonstrated that there is no merit in Russia’s allegations. Such  disinformation risks undermining scientific and technical cooperation between States for  peaceful purposes under Article X.

Russia has also made baseless allegations about Ukraine in the Organisation for the  Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Russia and its ally, the Assad regime in Syria, continue to  impugn the expert, impartial and evidence-based work of the Technical Secretariat.

Consistent reports of Russia’s use of anti-personnel mines and victim-activated booby traps  calls into question its compliance with its obligations under Amended Protocol II of the  Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons. The United Kingdom, as President of the  Tenth Meeting of States Parties of the Convention on Cluster Munitions, expressed its grave  concern at Russia’s repeated use of cluster munitions.

Moreover, Russia has resorted to desperate procedural manoeuvres to curtail any discussion  of its war, or of the means and methods by which it is pursuing it. Russia repeatedly attempts to rewrite history to justify the unjustifiable. It portrays itself as the victim, when it is the  aggressor. It blames everyone but itself for the consequences of its own choices. Try as it  might, though, Russia cannot hide from the revulsion the world feels at its actions.

Mr Chair

We cannot let Russia’s aggression distract our attention from the many other challenges the  world faces.

We reiterate that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon. We regret that Iran has chosen  not to seize the opportunity to restore the JCPOA and instead continues to escalate its  nuclear programme. We urge Iran to return to full implementation of the JCPOA and to urgently provide credible answers to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s separate  investigations to fulfil Iran’s legally binding safeguards obligations.

The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea launched an unprecedented number of ballistic  missiles in 2022. It has also restored its nuclear test site. Any nuclear test must merit a swift  and robust response from the international community. These programmes continue to  threaten international peace, the stability of the Korean Peninsula and the integrity of the  NPT, and violate unanimously adopted Security Council Resolutions. We call on all Member

States to condemn these provocations, and urge the DPRK to take concrete steps towards  denuclearisation in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

Syria’s non-compliance with its chemical weapons obligations must be resolved, in  accordance with the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution  2118.

More generally, the illicit and uncontrolled proliferation of conventional arms contributes to  instability, terrorism, and organised crime and causes untold death and devastation.

We are concerned by continuing efforts by some States to undermine and discredit  Multilateral Arms Control Regimes, which are a critical part of the non-proliferation system,  and facilitate exports and technology transfer around the world.

And States’ consistent concern that information and communication technologies can be  used for purposes that are inconsistent with international peace and security is now a reality.

The world must stand together to promote the application and observance of International  Humanitarian Law both in the physical and virtual worlds, and in outer space.

Mr Chair

Notwithstanding these dark clouds, there are some rays of light. The fact that every country  bar one was prepared to join consensus on the draft final document at the NPT Review  Conference was an expression of their determination to uphold the centrality of the NPT. And  we welcome the decision to establish a working group on strengthening the review process.

We warmly congratulate President Gustavo Zlauvinen and the whole bureau for their superb  efforts. We will continue to work in this constructive spirit in the new cycle.

The Ninth BTWC Review Conference at the end of November is a vital opportunity to  strengthen this important regime, including through proposals for a science and technology  review process, operationalising Article VII, and more agile decision-making. To keep the  Convention fit for future challenges, we also support the proposal for an Experts Working  Group to study the key issues and identify steps to strengthen implementation of the  Convention in all aspects.

We also welcome the progress made by the Open-Ended Working Group on reducing threats  to space systems through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours, thereby  preventing an arms race in outer space and maintaining the use of space for peaceful  purposes. This task is increasingly urgent. Space systems underpin life in the 21st Century,  and are vital for the functioning of the global economy, for the mitigation of the climate and  humanitarian crises we face, and for ensuring defence and security. Disruption or damage to  these systems could have far reaching consequences, including conflict.

One of our key concerns is the destructive testing of direct ascent anti-satellite missiles. Such  tests generate significant debris and puts continued use of space at risk, as well as being  potentially destabilising. I am therefore pleased to announce that the United Kingdom has joined others in committing not to carry out destructive direct-ascent anti-satellite missile  tests. We encourage others to do the same, especially those countries with such  capabilities.

Mr Chair

We must seize on these opportunities. In the face of growing global instability, the  international security, non-proliferation and disarmament system has never been so  important. Instead of undermining it, in this Committee or elsewhere, now is the time for the

UN membership to work together to protect and strengthen it. It is in all our interests to do so.

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