Chair,
Russia's actions shake the foundations of international law and the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture. The war of aggression on Ukraine is an ongoing violation of the UN Charter. It violates the security assurances of the Budapest Memorandum, damaging the credibility of negative security assurances. This deserves our strongest condemnation. Russia’s inadmissible nuclear rhetoric continues; compounded in the past 12 months by the stationing of nuclear weapons in Belarus and the de-ratification of the CTBT.
China continues to rapidly build up its nuclear weapons arsenal, without transparency. This is destabilising.
We encourage the end to misinformation about NATO’s nuclear sharing arrangements. These are consistent with the NPT – as they have always been, predating the treaty by more than a decade. All NATO states are in full compliance with all their NPT commitments
Chair,
Any use of nuclear weapons would have devastating humanitarian consequences. This should be a motivation for us all to intensify our efforts for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It also underscores the urgency of risk reduction measures. We urge Russia and China to accept, as a matter of priority, the United States’ repeated invitations to strategic dialogue without preconditions; and for Russia to return to compliance with New START.
Chair,
The NPT is the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Within the NPT, verifiability, irreversibility and transparency have been established as the principles for nuclear disarmament. We are committed to advance work on these principles, with the view of building consensus between all states. We support the work to improve the review process, with a special focus on transparency and accountability.
Chair,
Nuclear disarmament verification (NDV) remains a priority for Norway. Effective verification is necessary to achieve and maintain a world free of nuclear weapons. Building on the successful work of the two consecutive GGEs on NDV, Brazil and Norway have tabled resolution L.67 which calls for a discussion on merits, mandate and modalities for a group of Scientific and Technical Experts on NDV. We hope for support from all member states.
Chair,
Guarantees that disarmament measures cannot be reversed, are necessary to support nuclear disarmament. With the UK we started a process at the 10th NPT Review Conference to explore the principle of irreversibility. The more we elaborate this core principle now, the better the groundwork for future negotiations. We invite you all to join this ongoing work.
Chair,
The work of the IAEA on nuclear non-proliferation and peaceful uses is invaluable. The safeguards system is at the core of the NPT. We call upon all states to sign an Additional Protocol to its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement; which together represent the current verification standard under the NPT. We urge Iran to resume full cooperation with the IAEA, in line with its safeguards obligations.
We commend the IAEA for its professionalism, integrity and credibility. We also commend its work on nuclear safety and security, especially in Ukraine.
It is in our common interest that nuclear testing never happens again. We firmly support the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), where we currently co-facilitate the entry-into-force process with Panama. We welcome Papua New Guinea’s ratification in March. Annex II states bear the prime responsibility for the fate of the Treaty: we call again on India, Pakistan, the DPRK, China, Egypt, Iran, Israel, the United States – and now also Russia – to ratify.
Finally, chair, few things would advance nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament as effectively as a treaty which bans the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons and addresses existing stocks. Starting such negotiations should be the top priority of the CD in 2025. In the meantime, all relevant states should declare moratoria.
Thank you.