Statement by the Deputy Head of the Delegation of the Russian Federation, Deputy Director of the Department for Non-proliferation and Arms Control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Konstantin Vorontsov at the Thematic Discussion on Cluster VII "Disarmament machinery" in the First Committee of the 80th Session of the UN General Assembly, New York, October 28, 2025
31 October 2025 17:21
1837-31-10-2025
Unofficial translation
Mr. Chair,
We assign the UN the central role in addressing issues of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation (ACDN), as well as international peace and global security in accordance with the UN Charter. The tasks of strengthening the existing and developing new regimes in this area should be addressed either within the framework of the existing conventional mechanisms or the UN disarmament machinery. Only this approach can ensure genuine multilateralism in disarmament on the basis of the principles of sovereign equality of States, respect for their legitimate interests, and ensuring the equal and indivisible security for all.
Mr. Chair,
In the current situation it is necessary to intensify the progressive and constructive work of all elements of the unique disarmament "triad" - the UNGA First Committee, the UN Disarmament Commission (UNDC), and the Conference on Disarmament (CD). To this end, Member States should strictly respect the mandates and rules of procedure of these structures, submit for consideration only proposals and initiatives, that have been elaborated in detail on expert levels and that could be adopted without vote, as well as avoid politicization, which severely affects the search for consensus solutions to the pressing ACDN problems.
In this regard, the ongoing policy by Western States to use multilateral disarmament fora to serve their own ambitions without taking into account the interests of other Member States, primarily developing countries, require special attention of the international community. These States continue to politicize the activities of the UNGA First Committee, the UNDC and the CD. They openly call for the revision of the current ACDN architecture, based on the norms and principles of the international law, and for its replacement with some "rules-based order", as well as non-binding measures designed to ensure further dominance of this group of States.
Some questionable initiatives are being promoted to revise the fundamental principle of consensus, including its use only for substantive matters, while procedural aspects can allegedly be approved by vote. Attempts are also being made to impose an understanding of this rule based on the formula "consensus minus one" or even "minus two," depending on the circumstances.
We deem such actions absolutely unacceptable, charged with confrontation and fraught with the division of the international community, increased tensions, loss of trust and distraction of attention from the real international security problems. Such steps provoke further erosion of the existing international legal system in the field of arms control, disarmament and nonproliferation, undermine international security in general and make any progress towards complete and general disarmament impossible.
The CD activities are an illustration of all above-mentioned destructive tendencies. In violation of the Conference's mandate, Western States use this forum to settle political scores and consolidate their non-core preferences, which do not address the needs of the international community, on the disarmament platform. At the CD, there are attempts to introduce issues that are not directly related to its mandate and agenda, to reformat the working methods to suit their own narrow interests. This year, several European states sought to circumvent the CD's rules of procedure regarding observers participation by attempting to submit documents on behalf of the European Union.
The cause of this situation lies not in the principles of the CD's work, but in the unwillingness of Western colleagues to engage in the implementation of the tasks assigned to this forum by the decisions of the First Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Disarmament: namely, to negotiate international legally binding instruments on arms control and disarmament.
At the same time, we note that consensual decisions on further work of the elements of the UN disarmament machinery could be achieved only by the necessary political will of Member States. A clear confirmation of this is the continuation of substantive work in the UNDC within the framework of specialized working groups on nuclear disarmament and emerging technologies in the context of the international security.
Russia will continue to make efforts to enhance the effectiveness and coherence of the disarmament triad. We would like to remind you of our ongoing initiative to develop an international convention to combat acts of chemical and biological terrorism, which would allow overcoming stagnation and launching the negotiation process in the CD in accordance with the existing mandate. The Russian-Chinese draft treaty on the prevention of the placement of weapons in outer space and of the threat or use of force against space objects also remains on the CD's table.
We are convinced that the CD, due to its unique status as a single negotiating disarmament forum, is capable to make a significant contribution to the normalization of the situation in the field of international security and to promote the strengthening of trust between States.
At the same time, we would like to warn against the UNDC duplicating discussions on emerging technologies at other professional international fora. Discussion of emerging technologies in the UNDC should be aimed at the search of new aspects to be considered within this forum, and take into account the interests of all Member States, and address both the risks and advantages that these technologies bring about in the ACDN context.
Mr. Chair,
In the context of the "UN-80" reform initiative we believe that the existing structure of the UN disarmament triad is optimal. Relocating the UN Secretariat units responsible for ACDN issues from New York to Geneva and Vienna would be an ill-considered step. Travel costs would increase due to the need for UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) staff relocated to Geneva and Vienna to regularly travel to New York to organize disarmament events, including sessions of the UNGA First Committee, the UN Disarmament Commission, and the UN Security Council.
The aspiration to optimize the UNODA expenses should not affect the quality of the work of the multilateral disarmament fora entrusted to the Office. We consider attempts to shorten meetings time or transform them into a virtual or hybrid format to be extremely counterproductive. Comprehensive, high-quality interpretation services in all official UN languages must remain an essential element of the effective functioning of these fora. The planned "reorganization", which includes replacing more senior positions with younger employees, could have a general negative impact on the overall professional potential and "institutional memory" of the UNODA.
Mr. Chair,
We are convinced in the necessity to consolidate the international community around the creative and constructive agenda to keep and enhance the existing system of ACDN agreements.
It is important to resist any attempts to revise the UN disarmament machinery, under whatever pretexts. The work of the UNGA First Committee, the CD and the UNDC should be aimed at the adoption of specific substantive decisions and recommendations, as well as be carried out in full compliance with the UN Charter, other norms of the international law and the mandates defined for them. Initiatives to reform the fundamental working methods and rules of procedure of the UN disarmament fora are considered to be counterproductive.
Thank you for your attention.
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