Disarmament

Thank you very much, Mr. President.

Madame President, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates, Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great honour to be here. I thank you for your work and particularly for the serious efforts you have made, including this year, to find ways to break the long-standing stalemate in this Conference. 

I welcome the decision you took ten days ago to take forward your substantive work. The most difficult part now lies ahead, as you work to translate [this] into the resumption of negotiations. 

In two weeks’ time, world leaders will be here in the General Assembly to address the full range of global challenges.
 
But in recent days we have seen the dramatic aggravation of three of the main threats we face as an international community: the nuclear threat, sectarianism and climate change.
 
The latest nuclear and missile tests by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea are profoundly destabilizing for regional and international security.  I condemn them unequivocally.
 

It is a great pleasure and honour for me to have this opportunity to share some thoughts on my hope and what the United Nations has been doing on arms control and disarmament with distinguished professors and students here today.

You have helped to prepare future generations to address global challenges through multilateral cooperation. 

Your outstanding teaching and research have deepened the public’s understanding of the work of the United Nations. 

And I salute you all for all of this and much more ­– what you have been doing and continue to do.

I am pleased to join you to mark the 30th anniversary of the landmark Reagan-Gorbachev Summit.

That meeting here in Reykjavik was in many ways a turning point in global strategic relations.

U.S. President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev came to Reykjavik with different visions for stability.

Yet over the course of two days, they came close to an audacious plan for the elimination of all nuclear weapons.

General Secretary Gorbachev called it a “breakthrough, which allowed us for the first time to look over the horizon.”

It is a privilege to be part of this meaningful ceremony. Today, we plant a poignant gift from our partners, the Mayors for Peace and the City of Hiroshima.

This beautiful sapling is a symbol of resilience and of peace. It pays solemn respect to those who perished on 6 August 1945.

As this tree blossoms, it will also be a vivid reminder of how the hibakusha;– those brave survivors – have transformed their tragedy into a message of hope for the world.