Mr. President,

Distinguished colleagues,

 

Thank you for your congratulations and kind words concerning my joining this renowned disarmament forum.

Since this is the first time that I am taking the floor to address the Conference on Disarmament may I start by congratulating you, Mr.President, on the assumption of the post at this crucial juncture for the CD and wishing every success in your endeavors.

Please be assured of the full support and cooperation of my delegation.

 

Mr. President,

It is a great honour and special privilege for me to be present in this Chamber and to join the CD in my capacity as the Permanent Representative of Ukraine. Many years ago disarmament and arms control field became a starting point of my diplomatic career.

General and complete nuclear disarmament and strengthening of the non-proliferation regime reside in the center of Ukraine’s priorities in the sphere of international peace and security. For decades my country has consistently supported and promoted the call for fostering the complete elimination of nuclear weapons as the only genuine guarantee of averting a nuclear catastrophe.

Ukraine demonstrated its active position in pursuit of this goal and took the lead by voluntarily abandoning its nuclear capability and acceding to the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear state in 1994.

Ukraine has reconfirmed its adherence to the enhancing of the non-proliferation regime and supported the global efforts on securing nuclear materials from potential dangerous misuse. In 2012 we fully implemented our commitment to renounce the use of the highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in civil nuclear research facilities and to get rid of all the HEU stocks.

On December 5 this year we will mark the 20th anniversary of the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances. We strongly believe that this historic event should receive a deserved amount of attention of the international disarmament community, including the CD.

At the same time, after two decades that passed since the conclusion of the Memorandum much still has to be done to ensure the provision of effective legally-binding security assurances to non-nuclear weapon states parties to the NPT.

Negative security assurances (NSAs) issue is one of the main priorities on the CD’s agenda and constitutes an indispensable block of the disarmament process on the path to the Global Zero.

Numerous international consultations, including discussions in the framework of the CD, have repeatedly demonstrated ripeness of this issue for negotiations.

The provision of the legally-binding NSAs would send a strong global message dissuading states from acquiring nuclear weapons, improving mutual confidence and trust, strengthening the non-proliferation regime and fostering a new quality of regional and global security.

We encourage the nuclear weapon states to reconfirm and legally reinforce their commitments laid out in the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions.

 

Mr. President,

 

While recognizing difficulties in implementation of the existing international treaties and in bringing into force of new ones and concerned with a long-term stalemate in disarmament negotiations, we fully reaffirm our commitment to maintain and to strengthen the CD as the unique multilateral forum capable to deliver tangible results even in the most challenging context.

With the future of multilateral disarmament negotiations and the disarmament machinery at stake we see an urgent need in intensifying efforts to effectively revitalize the work of the CD.

Ukraine is resolved to render all-out support to constructive dialogue aimed at breaking the current impasse and getting the CD back to effective work by reaching compromise on the balanced and comprehensive Programme of Work with its subsequent implementation.

However, if the CD remains deadlocked we should use every opportunity to establish better conditions for future substantive work. In this vein, the CD could continue discussions on the core issues and consider undertaking systemic measures with a purpose of improving its functioning along the lines delineated in the Mr.Tokaev’s package.

Years of discussions demonstrate that the main stumbling block in efforts to revitalize the CD is irreconcilable positions on a balanced approach towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation in general and on the mandate on Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty negotiations in particular.

Both disarmament and non-proliferation objectives of the FMCT should be considered on an equal footing and get the same level of our attention. We believe that all matters, including issue of existing stockpiles, should be tackled during negotiations, rather than be a blocking point preventing the CD from substantive work.

Moreover, parallel negotiations on the issues which have evidently proven their ripeness and are widely supported by the international community are the only credible avenue to overcome persisting discords.

Due to the specific nature of disarmament agenda and most pressing issues at hand – namely placing production and stocks of fissile materials under transparent and non-discriminatory internationally verified regime, as well as providing legally binding security assurances, - there is hardly any viable alternative option in sight.

In our view, negotiating FMCT and NSAs in parallel processes will contribute to confidence building and mutually reinforce each other, providing pertinent support to the complex process of disarmament.

 

Mr. President,

 

Ukraine welcomed and highly supported the intensified efforts for overcoming the ongoing deadlock during 2013.

Although the outcome was rather moderate, Ukraine commends the adoption of the decision by the Conference establishing an Informal Working Group to produce a Programme of Work.

It testifies to the ability of the Conference to adopt consensus decisions, avoiding tensions and finding compromises, and offers an opportunity to consolidate our efforts in elaborating subsequent pragmatic solutions.

We believe that the Working Group’s mandate should be reaffirmed for 2014 session and further on until meaningful results will be achieved and substantive negotiations will have been commenced.

 

Thank you for your attention.

 

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