EU Statement – UN General Assembly 1st Committee: Nuclear Weapons

Madam Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia^*,Montenegro^*, Albania^*,Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, as well as, Monaco and align themselves with this statement.

The current complex security environment, which is marked by warsand conflicts, by increased tensions and continued proliferationof crises, underscores the need to preserve and further strengthen general arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation processes.

In this context, akey priority for the EU is to uphold and preserve the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which is the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI and an important element in the development of nuclear energy applications for peaceful purposes, promote its universalisation and strengthen its implementation. We reiterate the EU's strong, resolute and continuous support for all three pillars of the NPT. The EU will continue to promote comprehensive, balanced and substantive full implementation of the 2010 Review Conference Action Plan, which is a collective responsibility shared by all States Parties to the NPT without exception. We stress the need to implement all obligations under the NPT and commitments from previous Review Conferences, including the need for concrete progress towards the full implementation of Article VI,with the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. We are resolved to seek a safer and more secure world for all in accordance with the goals of the Treaty in a way that promotes international stability, peace and security. The EU notes the very severe consequences associated with nuclear weapons use and emphasises that all States share the responsibility to prevent such an occurrence from happening.

The EU condemns in the strongest possible way Russia's aggressive actions, irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and threats to use nuclear force, in its illegal, unjustified and unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine, whichare provocative, dangerous and escalatory.We are deeply concerned by the latest non-strategic nuclear weapons exercise by Russiaand Belarus. We are also deeply disturbed by Russia's announcement to change itsnuclear doctrine in a highly concerning direction. Reportsthat Russia could place a nuclear weapon in outer space, if confirmed, would not only be further testimony to the recklessness ofRussia's actions, but also in clear violation of the Outer Space Treaty. We also wish to recall that, on 3 January 2022, Russia signed up to the joint statement by the leaders of the five nuclear-weapon States - reaffirming, inter alia, that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought".Furthermore, it reiterated this commitment in a Joint Statement with China on 22 March 2023.We call upon Russia to respectthe commitmentscontained therein along withits obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and the UN Charter.

The EU condemns Russia's announced deployment of nuclear weapons on Belarussian territory. We recall the commitment Belarus made in the Budapest Memorandum 'to eliminate all nuclear weapons from [its] territory'. We therefore urgently call on Russia and Belarus to reverse this decision and to abide by all their aforementioned commitments. We also call on the Belarus authorities tocease immediately their support of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and to reverse any decision that would contribute to heightening existing tensions in the region. By not respecting its agreed obligations and commitments, Russia undermines the disarmament and non-proliferation architecture.

Madam Chair,

EU Member States remain committed to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, in accordance with Article VI of the NPT. We stress the need for concrete progress towards the full implementation of Article VI, especially through the overall reduction in the global stockpile of nuclear weapons, taking into account the special responsibility of the States that possess the largest nuclear arsenals.

The EU recalls Action 5 of the NPT 2010 Action Plan, which inter alia calls upon nuclear weapons States to enhance transparency and increase mutual confidence. In this regard, the EU acknowledges the efforts thus far by some nuclear-weapon States to demonstrate increased transparency on their doctrines and the nuclear weapons they possess and calls on others to do likewise,noting the proposals in the EU's working paper on the subject (NPT.CONF.2026/PC.II/WP.6). The EU acknowledges the broad cross-regional, nearly unanimous support for the objective of further developing recommendations and reviewing the implementation of previous NPT obligations and commitments, including on transparency and accountability.

The reduction of deployed strategic nuclear weapons under the New START Treaty, enhanced notably by its robust verification mechanism, contributes to the implementation of Article VI of the NPT through the overall reduction in the global stockpile of deployed nuclear weapons. The EU is deeply concerned about Russia's suspension of the New START Treaty. We call on Russia to immediately return to compliance with the New START Treaty and fulfil all its obligations, including by facilitating inspections on Russian territory, and by returning to participation in the Treaty's implementation body, the Bilateral Consultative Commission. We underscore the importance of a successor agreement to New START in the interest of international peace and security and for the prevention of a new nuclear arms race.

Given the rapid and extensive build-up of China's nuclear arsenal, we call on China to join future arms control agreements and to respond positively to calls for an arms control dialogue as a first step. We urge China to immediately take measures to improve the transparency of its nuclear weapons stockpile and doctrine, to refrain from further build-up, which is not in line with itscommitments under the NPT, and pursue risk reduction measures in light of the unequivocal undertaking of the nuclear-weapon States to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals. We note China's lack of transparency over its nuclear doctrine, policies and expanding arsenal.We would therefore call for clarity and meaningful engagement from China regarding its nuclear capabilities and doctrine.

Promoting universal adherence to and the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a key priority for the EU. We call on all States that have not yet done so, in particular those listed in Annex 2, to sign and ratify the CTBT without preconditions or further delay. In the meantime, we urge all States to abide by a moratorium on nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosion, and to refrain from any action that would defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty. We call on Russia to revert its decision to withdraw its ratification of the CTBT.

The EU calls for the immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament of a Treaty banning the production of fissile material (FMCT) for use in nuclear weapons or other explosive devices in accordance with document CD/1299 and the mandate contained therein. Pending a future FMCT in force, the EU calls on China and all other States concerned to declare and uphold an immediate moratorium on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices.

Furthermore, we will continue to support the actions taken by a number of States, including the EU Member States, to consider the role of nuclear verification in advancing nuclear disarmament and support further efforts in all relevant fora, including the Quad Nuclear Verification Partnership, the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV) format and the NuDiVe initiative.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards system is an indispensable component of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime and the EU strongly supports its further strengthening. The EU stresses that the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) together with the Additional Protocol constitute the current verification standard under the NPT and calls for their universalisation without delay.

Madam Chair,

The EU recognises that negative security assurances strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime and calls on all nuclear weapon States that have not done so yet to reaffirm existing security assurances noted by relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The EU acknowledges the critical importance of existing nuclear weapons free zones for peace and security and remains committed to the implementation of the Resolution on Middle East adopted at the 1995 NPT Review Conference.

It is a key security priority for the EU to ensure that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon. We recall Iran's commitments in that respect and its international obligations under the NPT. The EU remains committed to a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear issue. We call on all countries to support the implementation of United Nations Security Council Resolution 2231 (2015). We regret that Iran has not made the necessary decisions to return to its nuclear-related commitments under the JCPOA,to which the EU remains committed. Iran's unabated nuclear advances over the last 5 years have made a return to the JCPOA increasingly challenging. In this regard, we are deeply concerned by the continued alarming expansion of Iran's nuclear programme and by Iran's lack of cooperation with the IAEA. Iran's actions carry very significant proliferation risks and have no credible civilian justification. The EU is gravely concerned that the Agency is still not in a position to provide assurance that Iran's nuclear programme is exclusively peaceful, due to Iran's persistent lack of cooperation, including on the outstanding issues. It is regrettable that, despite four IAEA Board of Governors resolutions and numerous opportunities, Iran has not provided technically credible explanations that would enable the Agency to confirm the correctness and completeness of Iran's declarations. In this context, the EU remains concerned by statements made by Iranian officials in the previous reporting period about Iran's capacity to assemble a nuclear weapon. The risk of a nuclear proliferationcrisis in the region is increasing as a result of Iran's escalating nuclear trajectory.We urge Iran to return to the provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol and to bring it into force, and to resume implementation of all JCPOA-related monitoring and verification measures. We call upon the new Iranian government to work with the Agency swiftly and substantially, towards full compliance with its CSA obligations.

The EU urges the DPRK to cease all unlawful and destabilising actions that undermine regional and international peace and security, and comply with its obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions.The DPRK must take concrete steps in dismantling its weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. The DPRK will never be accepted as nuclear weapon State and must return to respecting its obligations under international law. Its continuous violations of UN Security Council resolutions cannot and will not be accepted. We call on the DPRK to return to compliance with the NPT and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, and to sign and ratify an Additional Protocol thereto. We urge the DPRK to sign and ratify the CTBT without any preconditions or further delay. The EU is ready to work with all relevant partners and promote any meaningful diplomatic process aimed at building sustainable peace and security and at taking steps aimed at pursuing complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

I thank you, Madam Chair.

*North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.