First Committee

It was essential to step back from the “brink of nuclear madness”, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its thematic segment on nuclear weapons.

Nine nuclear-armed countries had claimed the right to determine the life and death of everyone on Earth, but all Member States had a voice and the vote to protect the world from catastrophe, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it began its thematic segment.

The First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) took up the issue of revitalization of the General Assembly and programme planning today during a session devoted to its working methods, hearing from several delegations on the relevance of disarmament programmes.

The gravity of the problems threatening the global village were so immense that it was living on borrowed time, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard as it concluded its general debate.

Military aggression by a Security Council permanent member had all but eliminated prospects for advancing arms control, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) was told as it continued its general debate.

The Russian Federation, by launching an “unprovoked and barbaric invasion” of its neighbour, had trampled the fundamental principles of prohibiting the use of force against the territorial integrity and political independence of a State and cast a long shadow over disarmament, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard as it continued its general debate.

It was supremely illogical that any State would court mutually assured destruction unless that “apocalyptic” scenario of annihilating several hundred million people beyond the theatre of war was the goal, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.

It was deeply disturbing that nuclear-weapon States and States under extended nuclear‑deterrence guarantees had increased the salience of nuclear weapons in their security and nuclear doctrines, policies and postures, the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) heard today as it continued its general debate.

Our times are far from ordinary, with the world confronted by unprecedented, interlinked crises, the ramifications of which profoundly affect all aspects of our lives, the General Assembly President told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) today, as it continued its general debate.

The existential dangers posed by nuclear weapons were back in the global spotlight, the United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs told the First Committee (Disarmament and International Security), urging everyone to step back from the brink.