STATEMENT by H.E. Mr. Mukhtar Tileuberdi Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan at the High-level Plenary Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons New York, 2 October 2020

Dear Mr. President, Dear Secretary-General, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

Kazakhstan commends President of the United Nations General Assembly His Excellency Volkan Bozkir for organizing this event and NAM for its unshaken stand on its founding objective of disarmament.

This year, during the landmark 75th Anniversary of the UN, the pandemic of COVID-19 has clearly exposed, among other crises that loom ahead of us, continuing vulnerabilities in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

Last week, my President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev reiterated the bold and unwavering vision of my country to achieve a nuclear-weapon-free world. Our historic and memorable decision to close the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and renounce the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal is well known, as recalled at the latest Observance of International Day against Nuclear Tests, just a month ago, on 26 August.

Kazakhstan has the moral right to be always at the forefront of international efforts as it is among the few countries that still suffer from nuclear tests. In this regard, to facilitate recovery from the devastation caused, we invite all Member States to support and sponsor the recurring Resolution on international cooperation and coordination of efforts aimed at the rehabilitation, the environmental restoration, and economic development of the Semipalatinsk region in Kazakhstan. This resolution will be proposed for adoption by the UN General Assembly this year.

Due to the lack of progress in disarmament, we also need to accelerate momentum for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons to become a new reality and for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to enter into force.

Kazakhstan was the first country to set the example of a popular movement to halt nuclear tests around the world. The wider engagement of youth holds new possibilities for the future, especially to ensure the success of the forthcoming NPT Review Conference in 2021, and mark the 50th Anniversary of the NPT. In these perilous times of geopolitical tensions, and the catastrophe caused by COVID- 19, disarmament by all nuclear weapons states should be the priority of international relations policy. International solidarity is no longer a choice but an obligation. It is obvious that our already depleted resources, further diminished by COVID-19, should instead be spent on global public health, climate mitigation, and sustainable development.

To conclude, we need to redouble our efforts and join our synergies with unfaltering determination to free humanity from the threat of nuclear weapons by 2045 - the 100th Anniversary of the United Nations. That is what our First President – Elbasy Nursultan Nazarbayev has called for. There is no other pressing goal today. Thank you.