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Truth or wisdom?

24 February

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday, 24 February 2015 to discuss nuclear disarmament. Pakistan, United Kingdom (delivering a joint statement for China, France, Russian Federation, United Kingdom, and United States), South Africa, Russian Federation, Bulgaria, India, Indonesia, Japan, France, Algeria, and United States participated in the discussion. Iraq, Algeria, and Netherlands commented on the CD President’s brief updates on the progress of consultations.

  • Member states reiterated their well-known views on nuclear disarmament.
  • The CD President, Ambassador Vaanchig Purevdorj of Mongolia, informed delegations on his continuing consultations on an Informal Working Group (IWG) on a programme of work, a schedule of activities for the 2015 session, as well as an IWG on “matters of work”. He hoped to inform member states of the outcome of these consultations by the beginning of next week at the latest.
  • Russian Federation expressed concern about the US/NATO anti-ballistic missile system.
  • The US reiterated that these systems are meant for “defense” against “new threats” only. Additionally, the US delegate indicated that the offer to  discuss follow-on measures to New START still stands.

Notes from the gallery

While the CD continues to waffle and waver over commencing any kind of substantive work programme, the French delegation filled the space with a speech highlighting President Hollande’s remarks on nuclear deterrence from last week. In those remarks, the French president argued that France’s “nuclear forces must be capable of inflicting absolutely unacceptable damage to the opponent on its centres of power, that is to say, its nerve centres, political, economic and military.” Somehow, in the context of the CD, these remarks were cast in the light of nuclear disarmament. The delegation noted that France does not want to “forgo the objective” of nuclear disarmament and said it will “continue to act tirelessly in this direction” with consistency and “transparency with truth and wisdom.”

While France might not want to “forgo” the objective of nuclear disarmament, it is certainly not actively pursuing it, and neither are its other nuclear-armed counterparts.  Truth and wisdom cannot lie with those that maintain, modernize, and persist in possessing weapons of terror at the expense of security, justice, and protection from humanitarian and environmental disaster.

Next plenary

The next plenary meeting will be held on Thursday, 26 February at 10.00 in the Council Chamber.