RUSSIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT
Press Release
DCF/300
RUSSIAN MINISTER FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADDRESSES CONFERENCE ON DISARMAMENT
19970605 Reaffirms Position on NATO Enlargement; Calls for States To Sign CTBT; Urges Negotiation of Cut-Off Treaty On Fissile Materials Production(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 5 June (UN Information Service) -- The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Evgueny M. Primakov, told the Conference on Disarmament this morning that the Founding Act on mutual relations, cooperation, and security recently signed in Paris by the Russian Federation and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) marked an important and positive shift and reflected the political will of the leaders of the largest nations in Europe and America to take into account security and cooperation interests each had for the sake of stability in the world.
The agreement had been hard to reach, and Russia was known to have had and still had an extremely disapproving stance with regard to NATO enlargement, believing it could bring about new dividing lines in Europe which had been extensively eliminated in the post-cold war era, Mr. Primakov said. It was precisely to minimize the negative effects of such an enlargement that Russia had decided to sign the Founding Act, he said, expressing the hope that its practical implementation and adherence to its "code of conduct" would help to enhance security in Europe.
The Foreign Minister also told the Conference that the Russian State Duma was striving to ratify the START II nuclear-weapons-reduction pact and that deputies of the body hoped to ratify Chemical Weapons Convention as soon as this autumn.
Mr. Primakov called for the Conference on Disarmament to begin immediate work on negotiating a fissile-materials cut-off treaty and appealed to States with nuclear-weapons capability which had not signed the Comprehensive Test- Ban Treaty on nuclear weapons completed by the Conference last year to do so, terming their participation "crucial".
Also addressing the Conference's regular Thursday morning plenary were representatives of Turkey, Belgium and South Africa.
At the end of the meeting, a proposed programme of work for the remainder of the Conference's session was tabled by Kenya on behalf of countries composing the "Group of 21". It includes proposed establishment of ad hoc committees on the subjects of "cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament", "prevention of an arms race in outer space", and "effective international arrangements to assure non-nuclear-weapon States against the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons", and appointment of special coordinators to seek views of members on a "comprehensive programme of disarmament" and "transparency in armaments".
South Africa said the proposed programme of work tabled by the Group of 21 had been agreed to by South Africa out of a spirit of solidarity and because it was felt that the Conference should break the current deadlock on its future work. However, the country's earlier stated opinions on matters including "linkages" between negotiation topics and on assurances to non-nuclear-weapon States had not changed.
Statements
EVGUENY M. PRIMOKOV, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, said the Founding Act on mutual relations, cooperation, and security recently signed in Paris by the Russian Federation and NATO marked an important and positive shift and reflected the political will of the leaders of the largest nations in Europe and America to take into account security and cooperation interests each had for the sake of stability in the world. The agreement had been hard to reach, and Russia was known to have had and still had an extremely disapproving stance with regard to NATO enlargement, believing it could bring about new dividing lines in Europe which had been extensively eliminated in the post-cold war era. It was precisely to minimize the negative effects of such an enlargement that Russia had decided to sign the Founding Act, Mr. PRIMAKOV said; he hoped that its practical implementation and adherence to its "code of conduct" would help to enhance security in Europe. Progress in negotiations in Vienna to adapt the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty to the new, post-confrontational environment in Europe would be a clear gauge of whether such conduct in fact was to be forthcoming.
The meetings between the President of the Russian Federation, Boris Yeltsin, and United States President William Clinton, held in March in Helsinki, had confirmed their countries' commitment to nuclear risk reduction, Mr. PRIMAKOV said. Obligations from the START I treaty were being implemented ahead of schedule. Approvement by the Russian State Duma of the START II treaty was being strived for, and achievement of an agreement with the United States to avoid any circumvention of the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) treaty would undoubtedly bring Russia closer to entry into force of START II, the Foreign Minister said.
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Acting with Belarus, Kazakstan and Ukraine, Russia had secured the withdrawal to its territory of all nuclear weapons left after disintegration of the Soviet Union, Mr. PRIMAKOV said, and the President of the Russian Federation had proposed that all nuclear States keep their nuclear weapons only on their own territories -- a step that objectively would further promote stability and security in the nuclear sphere. Russia also firmly supported the establishment of nuclear-free zones around the world, he said.
The Russian President had submitted the Chemical Weapons Convention to the State Duma for ratification, Mr. PRIMAKOV said, and deputies there had expressed their intention to complete ratification as early as this autumn. The Foreign Minister appealed to States possessing considerable technical potential in the nuclear sphere which had not yet signed the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) to do so, as their signatures were crucial to the success of the pact.
Russia believed that immediate tasks to be undertaken by the Conference on Disarmament should include negotiation of a ban on production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons purposes, Mr. PRIMAKOV said; it also supported negotiations on problems involving anti-personnel land-mines. Russia had announced a moratorium on export of non-self-destructible and undetectable mines in December 1994, and was considering extending the moratorium. A complete worldwide ban on land-mines was a goal that probably should be approached in stages, he said, and negotiations on the subject clearly should involve the attention of the Conference.
TUGAY ULUCEVIK (Turkey) said that it was high time for the Conference to get down to concrete work, yet in doing so it should not lose sight of the realities of the international security environment. The Conference should not make relatively small but meaningful steps in the nuclear disarmament process a victim of overambitious expectations and approaches. The Turkish delegation was convinced that a "blueprint" or a timetable for achievement of the ultimate goal of complete nuclear disarmament would be more conducive to or -- for that matter -- a viable alternative to the existing bilateral reductions in nuclear arsenals. In Turkey's view, prompt ratification by Russia of the START II treaty and its implementation, and the negotiation of START III could successfully lead the way to a stage where other nuclear powers could join in a plurilateral process.
The Conference should support implementation of its earlier decision and establish an ad hoc committee and begin negotiations on a fissile material cut-off treaty, Mr. ULUCEVIK said. On the issue of land-mines, Turkey felt that absolute realism must prevail in working out an agreement which reconciled the humanitarian concerns involved with those of security. A wave of cruel terrorism endangered the social fabric of some States, and
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perpetrators of these heinous acts must not be allowed to benefit by illegal flows of arms, he added.
ANDRE MERNIER (Belgium) said the country was in favour of all initiatives aimed at reaching a complete ban on anti-personnel land-mines, and favoured pursuit of this goal by the Conference. In this spirit, it had accepted the proposition that a special coordinator be nominated to try to establish the circumstances under which such negotiations could begin, and favoured that proposal without prejudice to the mandate which might result. Still, for Belgium, the goal was a complete ban on such mines. The country furthermore supported the Ottawa process related to anti-personnel mines, Mr. MERNIER said.
Belgium's Government would hold, from 24 to 27 June of this year, a meeting in Brussels of countries interested in a complete ban. The Government already had been assured of the participation of a large number of committed countries, Mr. MERNIER said. The meeting would focus on making practical progress. There and in the Conference, the urgent necessity of achieving a solution to the humanitarian crisis posed by land-mines was the sole motivation for the Belgian Government's activities.
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