SUMMARY OF TODAY’S 2005 REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE TREATY ON NON-PROLIFERATION OF

i-Newswire.com - Press Release And News Distribution - SUMMARY OF TODAY’S 2005 REVIEW CONFERENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THE TREATY ON NON-PROLIFERATION OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS: "IHOR DOLHOV, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, said that Ukraine’s landmark decision to forswear its nuclear arsenal -- the world’s third largest -- had been crucial for progress in nuclear disarmament. That move had been among the factors that led to the successful outcome of the 1995 Review Conference. Ukraine strictly abided by the basic guidelines set out by the major multilateral export control regimes. Concerning new measures taken by the international community to prevent nuclear proliferation, he noted the Global Threat Reduction Initiative and the Proliferation Security Initiative ( PSI ). Ukraine participated in the PSI and was currently exploring ways to broaden its participation.



Noting that tens of thousands of nuclear weapons continued to exist, he urged the nuclear-weapon States to demonstrate in practice their determination to pursue nuclear disarmament under article VI of the Treaty. Ukraine, as a State that had contributed to the cause of nuclear disarmament within the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms ( START ) I framework, believed that the reductions in nuclear arsenals, particularly under the Moscow Treaty, should be irreversible. Ukraine continued to call on the two nuclear-weapon States to pursue the reduction of non-strategic nuclear weapons.



Pending the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty ( CTBT ), he urged all States with nuclear capabilities to abide by the global nuclear weapon test moratorium and refrain from any actions, which might undermine the CTBT objectives. He also stressed the necessity to spare no effort to surmount the protracted political impasse in the Conference on Disarmament and to commence negotiations on the fissile material cut-off treaty. In addition, he called on the Democratic Peo"