(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 5 March (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard statements from Switzerland, Norway and Ukraine which addressed the issues of nuclear disarmament and anti-personnel landmines and stressed the need for reform within the body.
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Statements
JAKOB KELLENBERGER, Secretary of State of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of Switzerland
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Switzerland believed that the question of nuclear disarmament should be on the agenda, he said. His country was ready to accept that a multilateral framework might not be the best way to reduce nuclear disarmament, however, the Conference had a role to play in this field, and should begin with the fissile material cut-off agreement.
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- 3 - Press Release DCF/327 9 March 1998
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AASLAUG HAGA, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs of Norway
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She said nuclear disarmament issues continued to be a primary preoccupation for the international community. The ultimate goal remained complete nuclear disarmament. The nuclear-weapon States had an obligation, enshrined in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in international politics. They were responsible for nuclear disarmament and therefore it was impossible to transfer the responsibility for negotiations on nuclear disarmament from them to multilateral forums.
However, the Conference on Disarmament had a clear role in questions related to nuclear disarmament and nuclear arms control as it could serve as an important forum for information exchange between nuclear-weapon States and non-nuclear weapon States. Negotiations for an agreement prohibiting the production of fissile material for weapons purposes should be a priority item on the agenda of the Conference, and it was also important to work towards greater openness regarding the stocks of fissile material held by nuclear Powers.
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- 4 - Press Release DCF/327 9 March 1998
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MYKOLA MAIMESKUL (Ukraine) said that in 1997, the Conference on Disarmament had been split almost equally on nuclear issues. One group declared nuclear disarmament as a priority, while the other advocated the immediate start of negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty. Ukraine was aware of existing views on a cut-off of future fissile material production as merely a non-proliferation issue not related to nuclear disarmament. However, from the Ukrainian perspective, eventual negotiations on fissile material cut-off should be conducted at the Ad Hoc Committee under the agenda item on the cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament.
He stressed that the termination of the nuclear arms race was not possible without a non-discriminatory, legally binding agreement to ban the future fissile material production. The working group of the Ad Hoc Committee might conduct the exploratory work on the political and technical aspects of the issue of excessive fissile material stockpiling without excluding the possibility of considering the issue of a comprehensive ban on fissile material.
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- 5 - Press Release DCF/327 9 March 1998
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