EU Statement – UN General Assembly 1st Committee: Nuclear Weapons

Mr. Chair, 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

The current security environment, which is marked by increasing tension, ongoing wars, conflicts, and continued proliferation crises, illustrates the critical need to preserve and strengthen theefforts in the area of disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control. In this context, upholding and fully implementing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and all its related commitments and obligations, remains a key priority of the EU. The NPT is the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, the essential foundation for the pursuit of nuclear disarmament in accordance with Article VI with the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons and an important element in the development of nuclear energy applications for peaceful purposes. We must promote its universalization and strengthen its implementation. 

We reiterate the EU’s strong, resolute and continuous support for all three pillars of the NPT and will continue to promote a comprehensive, balanced and substantive full implementation of the 2010 Review Conference Action Plan, which is a collective responsibility shared by all States Parties without exception. We stress the need to implement all obligations under the NPT as well as commitments from previous Review Conferences, including the need for concrete progress on the full implementation of Article VI, with the ultimate goal of the total elimination of nuclear weapons. We are resolved to seek a safer and more secure world for all in accordance with the goals of the Treaty in a way that promotes international stability, peace and security.

In this regard, the EU notes the very severe consequences associated with nuclear weapons use and emphasises that all States share the responsibility to prevent such an occurrence from happening.

Mr. Chair,

The EU reiterates its resolute condemnation of Russia’s aggressive actions, irresponsible nuclear rhetoric and threats to use nuclear force, which are provocative, dangerous and escalatory, in its unjustified and illegal full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine. We also call on Belarus, DPRK, and Iran to put an immediate stop to their direct military assistance. We call on Russia to cease violating its commitments under the 1994 Budapest Memorandum. By not respecting its agreed obligations and commitments, Russia undermines the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime, as well as international peace and security. We also recall the commitment Belarus made in the Budapest Memorandum ‘to eliminate all nuclear weapons from [its] territory’. We call on Russia and Belarus to abide by all their commitments therein.

We urge Russia to abide by the principles enshrined in the Joint Statement of the Leaders of the Five Nuclear-Weapon States on Preventing Nuclear War and Avoiding Arms Races that it co-signed in January 2022. 

EU Member States remain committed to the pursuit of nuclear disarmament, in accordance with Article VI of the NPT. We stress the need for concrete progress towards the full implementation of Article VI, especially through the overall reduction in the global stockpile of nuclear weapons, taking into account the special responsibility of the States that possess the largest nuclear arsenals. The EU recalls Action 5 of the NPT 2010 Action Plan, which inter alia calls upon nuclear weapons States to enhance transparency and increase mutual confidence. In this regard, the EU welcomes the draft national reports that France and UK presented at the NPT PrepCom this year to demonstrate increased transparency on their doctrines and the nuclear weapons they possess and calls on all others to do likewise. 

The EU calls for the immediate commencement and early conclusion of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament of a Treaty banning the production of fissile material (FMCT) for use in nuclear weapons or other explosive devices in accordance with document CD/1299 and the mandate contained therein. Pending a future FMCT in force, the EU calls on China and all other States concerned to declare and uphold an immediate moratorium on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

The reduction of deployed strategic nuclear weapons under the New START Treaty, enhanced notably by its robust verification mechanism, contributes to the implementation of Article VI of the NPT through the overall reduction in the global stockpile of deployed nuclear weapons. The EU is deeply concerned about Russia’s suspension of the New START Treaty. We call on Russia to immediately return to full compliance with the Treaty. We underscore the importance of a successor agreement to New START in the interest of international peace and security and for the prevention of a new nuclear arms race. We also call on both sides to voluntarily continue fulfilling the current agreed limits until a successor agreement has been negotiated. Recalling the obligations for all nuclear weapon States arising from Article VI of the NPT, we underline that the nuclear weapon States with the largest arsenals hold a special responsibility in the area of nuclear disarmament and arms control.We strongly encourage to further reduce their nuclear arsenals, including strategic and non-strategic, as well as deployed and non-deployed nuclear weapons. We welcome first signs by the United States and Russia to re-engage in dialogue on this and call on China to actively contribute to these processes. 

The EU remains deeply concerned by the rapid and opaque expansion of China’s nuclear arsenal, which raises serious questions and is inconsistent with its disarmament commitments under the NPT. China’s lack of transparency over its nuclear doctrine, policies, and expanding arsenal fuels mistrust and raises questions about the credibility of its No First Use policy. As the holder of the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal and a nuclear-weapon State under the NPT, China must establish necessary communication lines to prevent misperceptions and enhance transparency over its arsenals, doctrines and policies. We urge China to engage in arms control dialogue as a first step, improve information-sharing, and halt further expansion of its nuclear arsenal. 

The EU remains strongly committed to peace and security in the Middle East. We have always been clear that Iran must never be allowed to acquire a nuclear weapon and that it must comply with its legally binding nuclear safeguards obligations under the NPT. The EU is gravely concerned by Iran’s serious curtailing of its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since June 2025. The Director General has reported that the IAEA has now lost continuity of knowledge in relation to the current inventories of nuclear material in Iran, including highly enriched uranium.  The implementation of legally binding safeguards agreements derived from the NPT cannot be suspended under any circumstances. We fully support the IAEA Director General’s efforts to resume the Agency’s safeguard activities and call on Iran to remedy its non-compliance by taking all steps deemed necessary by the Agency. In that regard, we note the announcement of an agreement reached between Iran and the IAEA on the technical measures to resume inspections of the Iranian nuclear sites, and call for the immediate implementation of the agreement through practical actions.  As this agreement will neither amend nor modify Iran’s NPT Safeguards Agreement, Iran must uphold its obligations and urgently allow the IAEA to restart its safeguard activities. The EU is also gravely concerned by statements from Iranian officials on NPT withdrawal and recalls its attachment to the integrity of the international non-proliferation architecture. The EU remains committed to a diplomatic solution which is the only way to achieve a lasting resolution to the Iranian nuclear crisis. The EU will reaffirm its full support for the establishment of a zone free of nuclear and all other weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems in the Middle East, based on arrangements freely arrived at amongst the States of the region.

The IAEA safeguards system is an indispensable component of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, and the EU strongly supports its further strengthening. The EU stresses that the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement (CSA) together with the Additional Protocol constitute the current verification standard under the NPT and calls for their universalisation without delay. 

Mr. Chair,

The EU urges the DPRK to cease all unlawful and destabilising actions that undermine regional and international peace and security, and comply with its obligations under relevant UN Security Council resolutions. The DPRK must take concrete steps in dismantling its weapons of mass destruction, ballistic missile and existing nuclear programmes, in a complete, verifiable and irreversible manner. The DPRK will never have the status of a nuclear-weapon State, and must return to respecting its obligations under international law. Its ongoing violations of UN Security Council resolutions cannot and will not be accepted. We call on the DPRK to return to compliance with the NPT and its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the IAEA, and to sign and ratify an Additional Protocol thereto. We further urge the DPRK to sign and ratify the CTBT without any preconditions or further delay. The EU is ready to work with all relevant partners and promote any meaningful diplomatic process aimed at building sustainable peace and security and at taking steps aimed at pursuing complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.

Promoting universal adherence to and the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is a key priority for the EU. We call on all States that have not yet done so, in particular those listed in Annex 2, to sign and ratify the CTBT without preconditions or further delay. In the meantime, we urge all States to abide by a moratorium on nuclear weapon test explosions or any other nuclear explosion, and to refrain from any action that would defeat the object and purpose of the Treaty. The EU also calls on Russia to reverse its decision to withdraw its ratification of the CTBT, and, in the meantime, respect its object and purpose.

Furthermore, we will continue to support the actions taken by a number of States, including the EU Member States, to consider the role of nuclear verification in advancing nuclear disarmament and support further efforts in all relevant fora, including the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV).

I thank you, Mr. Chair.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.