Third Special Session on Disarmament convenes

US Department of State Bulletin, August, 1988

U.S. STATEMENT, MAY 31, 1988.sup.1

Today, the third UN General Assembly Special Session Devoted to Disarmament (SSOD-III) will convene for almost 4 weeks of discussion on arms control and disarmament issues. Heads of state, foreign ministers, and other representatives from some 140 UN countries ,hill attend this session to express their national views on disarmament-related topics.

SSOD-III participants will have an opportunity to look back at progress made since the second special session in 1982, review current developments and trends, and consider the challenges of and possibilities for the future. As an outcome of this session, the United States hopes to achieve a consensus document that reflects our common commitment to efforts aimed at enhancing international peace and stability.

The United States is proud of its efforts in this regard since the second special session. The United States has contributed to the significant progress which has been made in both bilateral and multinational negotiations. Equally as important, we have advanced successfully international acceptance of the principle that arms control must be pursued in the context of overall relations among states, such as resolving regional conflicts, respect for human rights, and general relations among states. Examples of progress include:

* The historic INF [IntermediateRange Nuclear Forces] Treaty, signed at the Washington summit, will eliminate globally U.S. and Soviet intermediaterange and shorter range missiles. This is the first treaty ever to eliminate an entire class of nuclear missiles, and it contains unprecedented verification provisions.

* The United States and U.S.S.R. also agreed in 1987 to establish Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers in their respective capitals to help reduce the risk of war due to accident, miscalculation, or misunderstanding.

* U.S. negotiators in Geneva have been working diligently toward a strategic arms reduction treaty which would cut U.S. and Soviet strategic offensive nuclear arsenals in halt We have made extensive progress toward completing this agreement.

* The United States is engaged in full-scale, stage-by-stage bilateral negotiations 'with the Soviet Union on nuclear testing issues. As an initial step, we are negotiating verification provisions to make it possible to ratify existing related treaties, namely the Threshold Test Ban Treaty and the Peaceful Nuclear Explosions Treaty.

* In 1984, the United States presented to the 40-nation Conference on Disarmament a draft comprehensive convention for banning chemical weapons. Many difficult problems remain to be worked out to make a convention truly global and effectively verifiable. However, much progress has been made, especially with regard to basic principles of verification.

* At the 1985 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, participants unanimously concluded that the treaty is essential to the security of all states and is the best barrier to nuclear weapons proliferation. Since then, other states have joined the NPT, raising its membership to more than 130 parties.

* In 1986, the second Biological Weapons Convention review conference acknowledged U.S. concerns about Soviet noncompliance with the convention. The conference stressed that all states need to deal seriously with compliance issues, otherwise the convention and the arms control process in general would be undermined.

* In 1986, the 35 states participating in the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe adopted the Stockholm document on confidence- and security-building measures designed to increase openness and reduce the risks of war by accident or miscalculation. For the first time, the right to conduct onsite inspections to check compliance was accepted. Ibn inspections have been concluded thus far.

In reviewing the present international situation, the United States is encouraged that a number of longstanding U.S. basic concepts underlying a sound approach to arms control seem to be gaining inereasing international acceptance. The international community has endorsed these principles through UN General Assembly resolutions and to some extent in arms control negotiations. These concepts include: the requirement for effective verification and compliance with arms control agreements, the need for greater openness in military matters, the importance of conventional disarmament, and the need to curb proliferation, both nuclear and chemical.

These positive trends can serve as a point of departure for the special session. Of course, international stability cannot be achieved solely through disarmament measures, as arms are not the cause but a symptom of international tensions. We hope that countries participating in the special session 'hill examine the causes of tension in their own regions of the world and take appropriate steps to improve stability.

In conclusion, the United States welcomes this opportunity for the international community to discuss a range of important issues. The U.S. delegation will work in a cooperative and constructive spirit toward a meaningful and productive SSOD-III that will contribute to enhancing international peace and security.