188体育

Mr Chair

The maintenance of international peace and security, including through the suppression of聽 acts of aggression, is one of the fundamental purposes of the United Nations and at the core聽 of this Committee鈥檚 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聽 Russian Federation trampled over those fundamental principles by launching an unprovoked聽 and barbaric invasion of its neighbour, Ukraine.

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

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

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

Mr Chair

Russia鈥檚 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聽 鈥� including issuing grossly irresponsible nuclear rhetoric, undermining security assurances聽 by flouting the Budapest Memorandum, and recklessly endangering the safety of Europe鈥檚聽 largest nuclear power plant 鈥� Russia alone blocked the adoption by consensus of a final聽 document at the Tenth Review Conference in August.

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

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

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

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

Moreover, Russia has resorted to desperate procedural manoeuvres to curtail any discussion聽 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聽 aggressor. It blames everyone but itself for the consequences of its own choices. Try as it聽 might, though, Russia cannot hide from the revulsion the world feels at its actions.

Mr Chair

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

We reiterate that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon. We regret that Iran has chosen聽 not to seize the opportunity to restore the JCPOA and instead continues to escalate its聽 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鈥檚 separate聽 investigations to fulfil Iran鈥檚 legally binding safeguards obligations.

The Democratic People鈥檚 Republic of Korea launched an unprecedented number of ballistic聽 missiles in 2022. It has also restored its nuclear test site. Any nuclear test must merit a swift聽 and robust response from the international community. These programmes continue to聽 threaten international peace, the stability of the Korean Peninsula and the integrity of the聽 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聽 denuclearisation in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

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

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

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

And States鈥� consistent concern that information and communication technologies can be聽 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聽 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聽 bar one was prepared to join consensus on the draft final document at the NPT Review聽 Conference was an expression of their determination to uphold the centrality of the NPT. And聽 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聽 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聽 strengthen this important regime, including through proposals for a science and technology聽 review process, operationalising Article VII, and more agile decision-making. To keep the聽 Convention fit for future challenges, we also support the proposal for an Experts Working聽 Group to study the key issues and identify steps to strengthen implementation of the聽 Convention in all aspects.

We also welcome the progress made by the Open-Ended Working Group on reducing threats聽 to space systems through norms, rules and principles of responsible behaviours, thereby聽 preventing an arms race in outer space and maintaining the use of space for peaceful聽 purposes. This task is increasingly urgent. Space systems underpin life in the 21st Century,聽 and are vital for the functioning of the global economy, for the mitigation of the climate and聽 humanitarian crises we face, and for ensuring defence and security. Disruption or damage to聽 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聽 tests generate significant debris and puts continued use of space at risk, as well as being聽 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聽 tests. We encourage others to do the same, especially those countries with such聽 capabilities.

Mr Chair

We must seize on these opportunities. In the face of growing global instability, the聽 international security, non-proliferation and disarmament system has never been so聽 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聽so.