UNGA Debates Disarmament After Putin Proposes Revisions To Russian Nuclear Doctrine

The UN General Assembly on September 26 marked the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons with a long debate on nuclear disarmament that coincidentally came just one day after Russian President Vladimir Putin caused alarm by proposing revisions to his country's nuclear doctrine.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres cited Russia at the start of the session, telling delegations that the United Nations must call on Russia "to return to the nuclear arms disarmament process."

Since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Russia has withdrawn from two important nuclear treaties, raising concerns about the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict.

Putin further raised concerns on September 25 when he unveiled a new version of the Russian nuclear doctrine. The revised version of the document would allow the use of nuclear weapons against nonnuclear states when they are supported by nuclear powers.

The new text "proposes that aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear-weapon state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear-weapon state, should be considered as a joint attack on the Russian Federation."

Throughout the UNGA session it was apparent that the nations of the world were unequivocally against Putin's updated doctrine.

Putin's comments came just one day before the 10th annual International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which was designated by the United Nations to promote nonproliferation, disarmament, and the subsequent elimination of nuclear weapons.

"Achieving global nuclear disarmament is the highest disarmament priority of the United Nations," the organization said on its website detailing the designation of September 26 as International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.

Despite the efforts of the world body, more than 12,000 nuclear weapons remain in the eight declared nuclear countries -- Russia, China, the United States, Britain, France, India, Pakistan, and North Korea. Israel is believed to possess nuclear weapons but operates on a policy of nondisclosure.

During the high-level meeting, representatives of all 193 UN member states were given an opportunity to speak on nuclear disarmament. Many of the delegates joined Guterres in arguing for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, who told the meeting they "deliver no real security or stability."

The U.S. representative Mallory Stewart, assistant secretary at the Bureau of Arms Control, Deterrence, and Stability, said that the United States was "ready to engage constructively with Russia on bilateral arms control."

At the same time, she highlighted Putin's withdrawal from key agreements and his rejection of "dialogue and transparency." In 2023, Putin both revoked Russian ratification of a global nuclear test ban treaty and suspended the New START nuclear treaty with the United States.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Putin has often touted Russia's nuclear arsenal and has issued warning about the use of nuclear weapons if Russia's national sovereignty were to ever be threatened.

Stewart also spoke on the deterrence and security provided by the U.S. nuclear arsenal, which she said extends to U.S. allies, thus eliminating the need for others to pursue nuclear programs of their own.

Delegates from South Africa and Libya, which are among the few countries that had nuclear weapons programs and chose to disband them, also spoke, calling for nuclear weapons to be given up entirely by all countries. In outlining their own choices, they hoped to show to other nuclear nations the feasibility of eliminating their nuclear weapons.

Acting Libyan Foreign Minister Al-Taher Salem al-Baour asked nuclear weapons states to "do what other countries...have done" in getting rid nuclear weapons, calling them "weapons of destruction with no beneficial value."

While several other delegates called for the total elimination of nuclear weapons, Fijian President Wiliame Katonivere said the climate of distrust was evident and that the existence of nuclear weapons would only lead to suffering.

Many of the other speakers saw that progress achieved directly after the Cold War was slowly melting away, and Guterres was the most blunt about this, saying that the "risk of nuclear war is at heights not seen since the Cold War era."