The Conference on Disarmament this afternoon heard a statement by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Argentina, Jorge Taiana, in which he set out Argentina's priority disarmament concerns, including nuclear disarmament and prevention of an arms race in outer space, and urged the Conference to fulfil its raison d'être, in particular to commence negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other explosive devices without delay.

Mr. Taiana said that, while over the past 10 years the Conference had not been able to fulfil its raison d'être – negotiations on legally binding disarmament treaties – the threats and challenges to peace and the urgent issues that the Conference had to address remained. Argentina had noted with moderate optimism the procedural steps that had recently been undertaken in the Conference with a view to beginning negotiations. That manifestation of goodwill and flexibility should logically be followed by more concrete steps, that is, the beginning of negotiations. Indeed, from this same rostrum a few weeks ago the Secretary-General had warned that if it did not, the Conference was in danger of continuing its slow drift to marginalization. In particular, conditions were ready to begin negotiations on a treaty banning the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons or nuclear explosive devices. That was manifestly obvious to Argentina in view of the will that had been demonstrated by all, including the nuclear powers, who had made progress via bilateral agreements to reducing their nuclear arsenals.

A few weeks ago, the States of the Latin America and Caribbean Members of the Conference had issued a joint statement affirming that nuclear disarmament continued to be of paramount importance for their region. Many of their countries had given proof of that, via their adherence to the Treaty of Tlatelolco and other regional agreements. Argentina's staunch commitment to the cause of nuclear disarmament was a position of principle and of conviction, but was also due to its status as a user of nuclear energy, which placed on its shoulders a particular responsibility. For that reason, just a few days ago, Presidents Kirchner of Argentina and Lula da Silva of Brazil had signed an agreement on cooperation in the nuclear field, including in areas such as nuclear power reactors and uranium enrichment, which would allow them to continue to work together to satisfy the energy necessities of their countries and the region in an open and transparent manner and with guarantees that such materials would be used for peaceful purposes.

However, no regional agreements could take the place of those of a more universal nature, Mr. Taiana observed. Member States of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) had obligated themselves to taking measures to fulfil its provisions. Those had to be fulfilled, not reinterpreted in the light of current realities, which were by definition always in flux. Nuclear weapons powers had to live up to the solemn undertakings set out in the NPT and many subsequent agreements. One could not preach the benefits of non-proliferation and continue to develop more sophisticated weapons. It was time for political support at the highest level so that a world without nuclear weapons could become a reality. Indeed, it was for that reason that Argentina had sent him to address the Conference this afternoon, and he noted that many other countries had sent or were sending high-level dignitaries to the Conference as well.

There were other issues that had been the focus of attention by a number of delegations, such as the prevention of an arms race in outer space. Significant initiatives, in particular the initiative of Russia and China, had been presented on that theme. Perhaps the time had come to set up an Ad Hoc Committee to explore the best approach to that complex matter. At the same time, Argentina did not believe in postponing items that were ripe for negotiation, such as the fissile material treaty, following the argument that all items had to move forward together. For Argentina the time to begin negotiations had come, and not to negotiate on negotiations. Mr. Taiana urged the Conference to commence without delay on the path leading to the elaboration of a document that could prohibit the production of fissile material for arms purposes.

Mr. Taiana also noted that in two days they would commemorate the tenth anniversary of the Ottawa Convention on Landmines, an instrument that had had to be negotiated outside of the framework of the United Nations. That Convention was of particular importance for Argentina, as it was within its framework that it had cleared a part of its territory, the Malvinas Islands, of anti-personnel mines. There, despite the dispute with the United Kingdom over the sovereignty of the islands, they had nevertheless worked jointly with the United Kingdom to demine the Malvinas and to fulfil Argentina's obligations under the Ottawa Convention.

The next plenary of the Conference will be held at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, 4 March, when the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Kazakhstan, Romania, Iran, Slovakia and Norway, as well as the Vice President of Colombia, are scheduled to speak.

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