BELARUS	
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Conference on Disarmament
High-level Segment
Statement by H.E. Valentin Rybakov
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the
Republic of Belarus
February 28, 2017

The Republic of Belarus attaches great importance to the work of the UN Conference on Disarmament. In the reality of today, in a situation of uncertainty in international relations and the degradation of the system of international security and disarmament, the role of the Conference should be more than ever in demand.
I am convinced that we, the Member States of the Conference, have something to say on the issues that contain the international disarmament agenda. And it’s essential, that what we say should be said in substantially. The world is tired of the loud slogans of PR, from "information noise", from everything what can be described by a capacious word «fake».
The world needs to find solutions that might lead to an agreement. We need a search for common grounds, common interests and opportunities for cooperation.
Modern challenges and threats dictate the need for thoughtful integrated approach for disarmament, non-proliferation and sustainable development. We believe that it will positively impact on the recovery of the international situation.
Only our joint efforts can ensure the continuation of the process of universal and overall nuclear disarmament, creation of a system of legally-binding assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states, demilitarization of outer space, countering the development of new types of weapons of mass destruction, prohibition of non-State actors access to WMDs.
The Conference has been repeatedly criticized in this room. We share the concerns expressed, however, we are convinced that the Conference’s resource has not been exhausted.
States, despite the differences in the positions, make great efforts to revive the work of the CD.
It is impossible not to note the initiatives on the Program of work, the new elements for negotiations, not affecting the essential security interests of any State, as well as the creation of the Way Ahead Working Group.
We welcome these ideas and reaffirm our readiness to support the positive momentum in the Conference.
We would like to note that the CD program of work should not be a kind of a political barrier to start-up activities, for which this important international instrument was established. The results of the discussions should not be predetermined before the actual start of negotiations.
The program, as it was in the early 1990s, should remain a technical document, which ensures continuity and predictability in the work of the Conference.
We believe that a simple, effective and predictable Program of work of technical nature, that can be adopted with minor amendments, reflecting progress on certain issues, in the first weeks of each CD session, may serve as a way out of the deadlock.
We need to balance the discussion and negotiation component in the work of the Conference, to get rid of the impossibility to adopt the Program of work for two decades, and to begin discussions on certain measures to build a more secure world.
Detailed proposals on this matter will be handed over to the Chairman of the Conference by the Belarusian side for the Member States’ consideration.
The Republic of Belarus is consistent, that the Conference should remain the main multilateral negotiating platform in the field of disarmament and arms control, the mandate of which must not be eroded by separate negotiating tracks.
Therefore, we believe that the results of the work at such forums should not undermine either the mandate of the Conference, or the existing legal framework on disarmament and non-proliferation. First of all, it concerns the NPT.
Universal and overall nuclear disarmament remains a priority for the Republic of Belarus. It cannot be achieved, what is called, with a swoop. This goal can be achieved through a series of sequential steps. To achieve it the international community must show the political will for the entry into force of the CTBT, to adopt a legally binding instrument to prohibit the production of fissile materials, to create a strong system of legal guarantees for non-nuclear-weapon States. And it seems to be no other way except consistent and realistic approach to the issues of nuclear disarmament.
There still remain gaps in the legal regulation of the use of outer space. We believe that the adoption of a treaty to prevent the deployment of weapons in outer space, based on the joint Russian-Chinese proposal, will contribute, in particular, to fill existing gaps.  
Issues of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons, radiological weapons also require appropriate political and legal regulation.
This year Belarus will once again present draft resolution on the prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons to the First Committee of the UN General Assembly. We look forward to the substantive discussion of this issue in the CD. We call upon States to take an active participation in discussions of this issue in Geneva and New York.
We are convinced that the Conference is able to contribute to of universal and overall disarmament in the field, which is at the crossroads of disarmament, non-proliferation and counter-terrorism. We believe that the drafting of the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Chemical and Biological terrorism is also a feasible task for the Conference, able to assist in finding compromises on other issues.
Twenty years ago Belarus completed the withdrawal from its territory of nuclear weapons, which remained after the Soviet Union. Without any preconditions or reservations Belarus refused military nuclear capacity of 81 "Topol-M" ballistic missiles, reaffirming its commitment to peace and security.
Today, two decades later, that decision, without false modesty, is an example of how the responsible national governance on such issues as disarmament and non-proliferation can and should be a prerequisite for progress and sustainable development.
We are ready to share our experience in various formats. Including within the framework of a special commemorative event, which will take place tomorrow, on 
March 1, at the Maison de la paix. We will be glad to see you all at this event.
Progress in any field requires manifestations of leadership by each participant.
There are many examples of such leadership in the past: the agreements between the USSR and later Russia and the United States on the reduction of nuclear arsenals, unilateral refusal of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and other countries from possessing nuclear arsenals or nuclear weapons development programs, the creation of nuclear-free zones in almost all regions of the world.
Hopefully, the examples of this leadership we will see even not tomorrow, but today, when our peoples need hope for a peaceful future and sustainable development as never before.