RUSSIAN FEDERATION HOPES UN DRAFT RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO WILL SERVE AS BASIS FOR IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF NATO AGGRESSION ON YUGOSLAVIA
Press Release
DCF/371
RUSSIAN FEDERATION HOPES UN DRAFT RESOLUTION ON KOSOVO WILL SERVE AS BASIS FOR IMMEDIATE CESSATION OF NATO AGGRESSION ON YUGOSLAVIA
19990610 President of Conference on Disarmament Speaks of Encouraging Signs Despite Main Obstacles Still to Be Overcome on Programme of Work(Reissued as received.)
GENEVA, 10 June (UN Information Service) -- The Conference on Disarmament this morning heard the Russian Federation state that the aggression by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against sovereign Yugoslavia had gravely complicated the international climate. The Russian Federation hoped that the process of finalizing the United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Kosovo, which was worked out by the G-8 in Bonn, served as a weighty basis for the immediate cessation of the bombardment of Yugoslavia.
Concerning the work of the Conference, the representative of the Russian Federation said his country supported the speedy re-establishment of the Ad Hoc Committees on a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, negative security assurances and prevention of an arms race in outer space. He proposed the immediate resumption of the activities of the Special Coordinator on anti-personnel landmines if there could be no agreement reached on establishing an Ad Hoc Committee on that issue.
Mohamed-Salah Dembri of Algeria, the President of the Conference on Disarmament, announced that Jamaica had been accepted as an observer to the work of the Conference.
Mr. Dembri said his consultations as President of the Conference had shown the need to focus all efforts on the progressive development of compromises on the two issues of nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space. In this connection, he had sought to translate in practical terms elements which were capable of serving as a basis for consensus. There were main obstacles to be overcome, but the emergence of certain encouraging signs had prompted the Conference to persevere on the course it had set for itself.
He stressed that the assistance of all delegations was absolutely essential if before the end of his term as President, he would be able to propose a programme of work for the Conference to start its substantive work.
The next plenary of the Conference on Disarmament will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 17 June.
Statements
VASILY SIDOROV (Russian Federation) said the aggression by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) against sovereign Yugoslavia had gravely complicated the international climate. The world had been faced with a new attempt to establish a power dictate. Russia firmly rejected such a approach, which contradicted the evolution trends of a multipolar world order and the legitimate interests of a majority of States. The military operation by NATO in the Balkans had violated the basis of international law and the UN Charter, and the list of numerous victims was growing daily. The process of finalizing the United Nations Security Council draft resolution on Kosovo, which was worked out by the G-8 in Bonn, served as a weighty basis for the immediate cessation of the bombardment of Yugoslavia.
Mr. Sidorov said NATO's intention was to resolve problems using cold war means with reliance on military force. What was particularly alarming was that the alliance openly proclaimed its right to conduct any operations, including military ones, beyond its geographical area of responsibility. Russia was seriously concerned about NATO's further eastward advancement to the very borders of the Russian Federation.
The 1999 work of the Conference was taking place in a very difficult international situation, Mr. Sidorov said. The NATO aggression, and the United States bill establishing a national anti-missile defence system, had been bound to make an impact on the effectiveness of the activities of the Conference and had objectively contributed to delaying its substantive work.
Mr. Sidorov said the cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament had always been the focus of Russia's foreign policy. It should be emphasized, however, that deep reductions of strategic offensive weapons (START) were only possible under conditions of maintaining strategic stability in the world. The 1972 Anti-ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty was the key element of the whole structure of nuclear disarmament agreements, a basis for strategic stability and international security. The known plans of the United States to deploy a national anti-missile defence system could lead to the de facto abrogation of the AMB Treaty. The next effective and logical step to be undertaken in the field of multilateral nuclear disarmament was a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, and Russia supported a speedy re-establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on this issue.
- 3 - Press Release DCF/371 10 June 1999
Russia also supported the speedy re-establishment of an Ad Hoc Committee on negative security assurances with the same mandate as before, Mr. Sidorov said. As for the issue of the prevention of an arms race in outer space, it had for many years been among the highest priorities for Russian diplomacy. All had not been done so far to prevent outer space from becoming an arena of military confrontation. Russia fully supported the proposal by the Chinese delegation of 11 March to re-establish an Ad Hoc Committee on this issue. Concerning anti-personnel landmines, Russia had always supported a step-by-step process aimed at a genuine global ban on landmines. It was ready to discuss the gradual ban on landmines under the agenda item on a comprehensive programme of disarmament. As a first step in this direction, the Conference could launch the elaboration of a universal agreement on a ban on the transfer of landmines. Russia regretted that the Conference did not succeed last year in establishing an Ad Hoc Committee on this issue, and should circumstances prevent it from doing the same this year, it was necessary to immediately resume the activities of the Special Coordinator on this issue with the same mandate as before.
MOHAMED-SALAH DEMBRI (Algeria), who is President of the Conference, said that he had begun a series of negotiations which had enabled him, in the initial stage, to opt for an overall approach to steer the Conference toward the desired consensus on a balanced programme of work. What had emerged was the need to focus all efforts on the progressive development of compromises on the two issues of nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space. In this connection, he had sought to translate in practical terms elements which were capable of serving as a basis for consensus.
Mr. Dembri said that all delegations recognized and acknowledged the difficulty of this task, and it was this recognition which had served to strengthen his conviction and hope that day by day, there could be progress which could lead to swift action. There were main obstacles to be overcome, but the emergence of certain encouraging signs prompted the Conference to persevere on the course it had set for itself. The assistance of all delegations was absolutely essential if before the end of his term, he would be able to propose a programme of work for the Conference to start its substantive work.
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