Dr. Erlan Batyrbekov, Director-General of the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan and Mr. Sergey Lukashenko and Mr. Sergei Berezin, his deputies took part in regular session of the Nuclear Discussion Forum on the theme, Nuclear Security: The Successful Trilateral Collaboration between Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and the United States and Lessons for Future International Cooperation.

The Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations in New York on 18 May 2016 held this event in close cooperation with the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs.

The session was attended by more than 60 United Nations Member and Observer States, as well as by representatives of intergovernmental organizations, including IAEA, EU, African Union, OIC, Arab League, CELAC, CARICOM, OAS and some other international and regional organizations.

Welcome addresses were delivered by H.E. Mr. Kim Won-soo, Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, and H.E. Ambassador Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Permanent Representative of Kazakhstan to the UN. The Head of Mission of Kazakhstan familiarized this international gathering with the Manifesto of President Nazarbayev, "The World. The 21st Century" and the other anti-war and anti-nuclear initiatives of Kazakhstan's leadership. The main speakers were Dr. Erlan Batyrbekov Director-General of the National Nuclear Centre of Kazakhstan and Mr. Sergey Lukashenko and Mr. Sergei Berezin, his deputies, Mr. Craig P. Campbell, Principal Deputy, Office of Threat Reduction and Arms Control (TRAC), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defence for Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Defence Programmes, U.S. Department of Defence and Mr. Petr Iliichev, First Deputy Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the UN.

The speakers and participants discussed various aspects of the successful trilateral collaboration between Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and the United States at the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site (STS) on the removal of nuclear arsenal. They emphasized that this test site was closed once and for all because of the farsighted vision, political will and courage of the President Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

The successful collaboration at the former Semipalatinsk Nuclear Test Site on the removal of its nuclear arsenal, is especially important in the present circumstances of mistrust in international relations, which to a large extent, exists in the nuclear field as well. Kazakhstan therefore considers it appropriate to promote and share the lessons learned to other UN Member States, to embark on similar cooperative endeavours, building on the example of the commitment to the noble goals of nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and building lasting peace. Despite their differences, the parties also highlighted examples of successful cooperation in recent years, such as the destruction of chemical weapons in Syria and agreement on the nuclear programme of Iran. This should encourage the major powers to further cooperate in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The representatives of the UN Member States commented on significant investment that Kazakhstan had made to ensure global and regional nuclear security. The country has thus made a valuable contribution to the three-year cycle of UNDC for 2015-17.
 

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