Виступ делегації України на загальних дебатах Першого комітету 77-ї сесії ГА ООН

Mr. Сhair,

At the outset, allow me to congratulate you and other members of the Bureau on your election.

Today is the 223rd day of an unprovoked and unjustified aggression unleashed by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) nuclear weapon state against the NPT non-nuclear state.

Most recently, Russia announced mobilization. Some of newly conscripted troops are already deployed on the battlefield.

Russia held so-called “referendums” on the occupied territory of Ukraine and attempted to annex parts of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Such actions severely violate the Constitution and laws of Ukraine, as well as norms of international law and Russia's international obligations. They will not have any implications for Ukraine’s administrative-territorial system and internationally recognized borders. his performance has nothing to do with expression of will and does not have any implications for Ukraine’s and internationally recognized borders.

The Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions, like the Ukrainian Crimea, remain the sovereign territories of Ukraine. Ukraine has every right to restore its territorial integrity by military and diplomatic means, and will continue to liberate the temporarily occupied territories.

Mr. Chair,

For many years, Ukraine has been consistent in its call for a total elimination of nuclear weapons as a final purpose of nuclear disarmament and for strengthening the international nuclear non-proliferation regime as a tool to achieve this goal. For its part, my country has made an unprecedented contribution in the field of nuclear disarmament, by abandoning the world’s third largest nuclear arsenal.

Ukraine continues to consider the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a cornerstone of the nuclear non-proliferation regime and the foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

However, the NPT’s efficiency and integrity was undermined in 2014, when russia occupied Crimea and launched the aggression in the east of Ukraine in a flagrant violation of the UN Charter and a number of international treaties and agreements, including the Budapest Memorandum on the Security assurances of 1994.

Despite the constructive negotiations at the Tenth NPT Review Conference in August 2022, Russia - a nuclear-weapon State – blocked the consensus on the final document. In so doing the russian federation has not only shown its disregard for its obligations and commitments under the Treaty, but also tried to avoid its full responsibility for the actions against nuclear facilities of Ukraine.

What is especially alarming that the risk of nuclear war is now higher than it ever was since the Cold War.

Today, the russian federation openly threatens with its ability to use nuclear weapons. The international community cannot simply turn the blind eye to this reckless rhetoric.

Mr. Chair,

From the first days of its aggression against Ukraine, the Russian forces indiscriminately attacked Ukraine’s peaceful cities and villages with the use of missiles, aviation, tanks and artillery. Russia’s army also actively use explosive weapons, including cluster munitions, thermobaric and incendiary weapons, which cause civilian injuries and severe damage to civilian infrastructure, including residential buildings, schools, hospitals, maternity hospitals and kindergartens.

As of today, the large parts of the territory of Ukraine are contaminated with mines, including with anti-personnel mines and other explosive ordnance.

We are especially concerned over the use of Iranian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against Ukraine’s people and civilian infrastructure.

For the first time in history, civil nuclear facilities, including the operating Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant (ZNPP), the largest in Europe, have been turned into military targets and springboards for the russian army in breach of international law and the NPT.

In addition to the illegal presence of russia’s military forces on the ZNPP, as well as the personnel of “rosatom”, Russia is regularly shelling the power plant and the satellite city of Energodar with heavy weapons, as well as terrorizes and tortures ZNPP employees.

Due to the actions of the Russian Federation, the whole world today has been put on the brink of a nuclear catastrophe, the consequences of which might be global.

This is a clear example of a nuclear terrorism, sponsored by the nuclear-weapon state.

Ukraine appreciates bravery and professionalism of the IAEA mission’s experts. The visit was the first step only. Since the ZNPP still remains under the occupation, the risks remain.

However, the only way to ensure that there are no nuclear threats is for russia to
de-militarize the NPP, withdraw its troops, and hands over full control of the station to Ukraine.

Along with numerous violations related to nuclear safety and security Russia manipulates with biological and chemical issues. Since the full scale war Russia targeted chemical enterprises on the territory of Ukraine, as well as made a large number of completely false allegations of chemical weapons use by Ukraine and used the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons as a platform for their provocations. The Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention was used by Russia as a tool for their propaganda against Ukraine. Russia’s accusations against Ukraine and the United States are aimed at, first of all, creating artificial grounds to justify its full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, diverting attention of the international community from atrocities committed by the Russian armed forces in Ukraine.

Mr. Chair,

The increased number of launches of ballistic missiles by the DPRK throughout this year undermines international peace and security.

In this regard, Ukraine strongly condemns the ballistic missile launches conducted by the DPRK in blatant violation of relevant Security Council resolutions.

We urge the DPRK to fully implement and respect all UN Security Council resolutions related to its weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and ballistic missile programmes, by abandoning all nuclear and any other existing WMD and ballistic missile programs in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner.

Ukraine supports efforts to preserve the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). We urge Iran to return to full compliance with the JCPOA and the IAEA’s Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement without delay.

Ukraine shares the view that the establishment of new WMD-free zones will strengthen the international non-proliferation regime. We strongly support the universalization and entry into force of the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
In this regard, we call upon all states that have not yet done so, in particular the remaining Annex II states, to sign and ratify the Treaty to ensure a legally binding moratorium on nuclear testing.

The other, long overdue task is the immediate commencement of negotiations on the Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT), which is essential both to constrain nuclear proliferation and to advance the goal of nuclear disarmament.

Ukraine continues to strongly adhere to the provisions of the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Biological and Toxic Weapons Convention, the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, the Anti-Personnel Landmines Convention, the UN Security Council’s resolutions on arms embargo and other important instruments in the field of
non-proliferation and arms control.

In conclusion, Mr. Chair, given the mandate vested upon the First committee, this UN GA subsidiary body plays a crucial role within the disarmament machinery aimed at seeking solutions to the threats that undermine peace and security worldwide. Therefore, we hope that the First Committee will be able to properly address the most serious challenges to international security since the end of the World War II.

Thank you.