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MOSCOW, APRIL 23, 2013. PIR PRESS – “We understand how our Arab and Iranian colleagues feel regarding the postponement of the conference on establishing a weapons of mass destruction-free zone in the Middle East. The situation is unacceptable, but there should be no complaints against Russia. The co-convenors did not have the authority to make the decision to postpone, and Russia did not agree with the decision. We continue to work toward the convening of the conference and insist on fixing a concrete date,” – Mikhail Ulyanov, Director of the Department for Security Affairs and Disarmament, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation
The Second Preparatory Committee to the 2015 NPT Review Conference opened in Geneva on April 22, 2013 and closes on May 3, 2013.
PIR Center Internet Project Director Andrey Baklitsky, PIR Center “Russia and Nuclear Nonproliferation” Project Coordinator Alexander Kolbin, Assistant to the Director of the PIR Center’s European branch Centre russe d'études politiques Darya Ragulina, and PIR Center Intern Jennifer Dahnke are participating in the PrepCom as NGO representatives. PIR Center President Vladimir Orlov is participating as a member of Russia's official delegation.
The first day of the Second Session began with the presentation of states’ official positions. One of the most important issues raised in the statements became the convocation of a conference on the establishment of a weapons of mass destruction-free zone (WMDFZ) in the Middle East.
In his statement at the Preparatory Committee on April 22, 2013, Director of the Department for Security Affairs and Disarmament in the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mikhail Ulyanov made clear Russia’s position regarding the WMDFZ in the Middle East: “We understand how our Arab and Iranian colleagues feel regarding the postponement of the conference on establishing a weapons of mass destruction-free zone in the Middle East. The situation is unacceptable, but there should be no complaints against Russia. The co-convenors did not have the authority to make the decision to postpone, and Russia did not agree with the decision. We continue to work toward the convening of the conference and insist on fixing a concrete date.”
The PIR Center is hosting a number of events in Geneva that are focused on international security.
On April 19, 2013, the PIR Center and Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted a seminar titled “On the way to the 2015 NPT Review Conference” on the margins of the fourth P5 Conference.
On Wednesday April 24, 2013, the Trialogue International Club and Centre russe d’etudes politiques held a joint meeting, where Russian Deputy Minister of Defense Anatoly Antonov gave a talk on “Strategic Conventional Weapons.”
On Thursday, April 25, 2013, the PIR Center will be presenting its white paper “Ten Steps towards a Weapons of Mass Destruction-Free Zone in the Middle East” in the UN Library in Geneva.
We are reporting live (mostly in Russian) from the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee to the 2015 NPT Review Conference on our Twitter account: https://twitter.com/PIR_Center
For more information on the PIR Center’s participation in the Preparatory Committee to the Review Conference, please contact our “Russia and Nuclear Nonproliferation” Project Coordinator Alexander Kolbin by phone +41 797 369 034 or e-mail [email protected]