Disarmament
Nuclear weapons and disarmament at UNGA 81
Raised by 62 of 223 speakers. Read verbatim UN transcript quotes and select a time to hear the speech.
Speeches that raised nuclear weapons and disarmament
United States of America · Day 1Donald TrumpThere is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world's peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran.
For 51 years, the fanatical Iranian regime has ruled by bloodshed and mass murder, spreading death and carnage and chaos across the entire Middle East and beyond.
They were the bully of the Middle East, but they are the bully no more.
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New Zealand · Day 6Victoria Louise HallumWe ask the next Secretary-General to work with us to preserve the integrity of the global disarmament framework, particularly on weapons of mass destruction.
The grave dangers of deterioration of the global non-proliferation regime should alarm us all.
New Zealand was deeply disappointed at the failure to reach consensus at this year's Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference.
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Democratic People’s Republic of Korea · Day 6Kim Son GyongThe U.S.-Japan-ROK military alliance, unmistakably aimed at the DPRK, is being evolved by the United States into a more offensive and aggressive military bloc with a nuclear element.
The U.S. is conspiring with its allies to systematically amend and update the anti-DPRK nuclear war scenarios.
The U.S. has approved and encouraging Seoul's ambition to possess nuclear-powered submarines, while relocating and deploying different military hardware, including the latest missiles and drones, on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity.
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Iran (Islamic Republic of) · Day 2Masoud PezeshkianBut we say it clearly, in order to defend our country, we do not seek anyone's permission or approval.
We seek energy for progress.
For years, there have been, they have labeled centrifuges, international sanctions, other labels when it comes to our nuclear technology.
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Timor-Leste · Day 2José Ramos-HortaExcellencies, we are gathering in this hall of nations, countries large and small, some insanely rich, too many shockingly poor, but all enjoying equal voting rights.
Yet we know equality is an illusion.
Some possess non-threatening, antiquated guns, while few others have perfected their nuclear arsenals now 100 times more destructive than the ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
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Kazakhstan · Day 4Mukhtar TileuberdiMr. President, the international security environment continues to deteriorate.
World military expenditures reached a record 2.9 trillion dollars in 2025.
Our small planet is home to more than 12,000 nuclear weapons, each one capable of untold damage and sorrow.
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San Marino · Day 5Luca BeccariWe have endorsed the safe school declaration, the Paris principle and the Vancouver principle.
We call on all state to strain the protection of children in armed conflict and the ratify the optional protocol of the convention of the right of the child.
Mr. President, the return of nuclear threat is another source of grave concern.
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Austria · Day 3Beate Meinl-ReisingerHistory says otherwise.
Imagine this hall in December 1953.
Austria was still occupied while the superpowers were testing hydrogen bombs.
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Marshall Islands · Day 4Hilda HeineWe speak from our own experience when we underscore the importance of acting together.
An institution that takes decisions collectively must also be accountable collectively.
Mr. President, the United Nations is long overdue to reflect and renew the same spirit with which our Marshallese people first came to the United Nation by delivering an apology and acknowledgement of the harm caused by impacts from the 67 nuclear weapons tested on our islands during our time as a UN strategic trust territory between 1946 and 1958.
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Sri Lanka · Day 6Vijitha HerathSri Lanka has also long championed multilateral disarmament.
from our early call for an Indian Ocean zone of peace to our leadership at the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference.
At a time of rising geopolitical tensions and rhetoric of nuclear escalation, We remain firmly convinced that the only real guarantee against these weapons is their total and verifiable elimination.
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Secretary-General of the United Nations · Day 1António GuterresThe test before us is whether power will be exercised with the law or beyond it.
And we must pass that test.
We must defend the Charter without double standards, protect civilians without exception, ensure humanitarian access without obstruction, shield humanitarian personnel without fail, advance nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament without delay, and demand accountability without fear or favor.
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Mongolia · Day 1Khurelsukh UkhnaaMr. President, on behalf of the people of Mongolia, I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the United Nations and its system organizations for their valuable contributions to our country's development and progress and their long-standing constructive cooperation over the 65 years since Mongolia's accession to the United Nations as a full-fledged member.
Mongolia has been contributing with honor to the efforts on strengthening international peace and security, advancing social and economic development, and protecting human rights, the core pillars of the United Nations.
For instance, more than three decades ago, in pursuit of its foreign policy to ensure national security through political and diplomatic means, Mongolia declared its territory nuclear-weapon-free.
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Republic of Korea · Day 1Lee Jae MyungRe-establishing basic channels of communication and building trust will be the first step toward a stable, peaceful coexistence.
Third, is responsible peaceful coexistence contributing to world peace?
We will go beyond building a Korean Peninsula free from war and nuclear weapons to promoting stability and cooperation in Northeast Asia while actively contributing to global efforts to build a world free from war and conflict.
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Japan · Day 1Takaichi SanaeSecond, Japan is devoted to enhancing cooperation towards peace and stability.
Since the end of the Second World War, Japan has consistently and seriously pursued efforts towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
At the very heart of our aspiration for a world without nuclear weapons lies the earnest plea of the hibakusha.
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Ukraine · Day 2Volodymyr ZelenskyyAnd you do not think about war every second.
But that does not mean you are weak.
And those who may wish you harm should not make that mistake.
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Bulgaria · Day 2Iliana IotovaAs we underscored publicly several times in international fora, Bulgaria firmly supports the freedom and security of international maritime transport and calls for strict adherence with applicable international law and to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Security requires us to limit the risks posed by weapons of mass destruction and by their proliferation.
Bulgaria remains determined to strengthen international nonproliferation, disarmament, and arms control architecture, as well as the three pillars of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
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Israel · Day 3Benjamin NetanyahuI vowed to prevent Iran's murderous dictatorship from developing atomic bombs, nuclear weapons aimed at destroying Israel, nuclear weapons that could threaten the entire world.
That's exactly what we did.
Now, let me say something that might surprise you.
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Greece · Day 3Kyriakos MitsotakisIn the 1940s and the 1950s, the American government heavily regulated another technology so powerful that its creators believed it could bring about either a golden age in human flourishing or the end of the world.
That technology was nuclear.
The same needs to happen now, and it needs to happen fast.
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Australia · Day 3Anthony AlbaneseThe pioneers who built this institution from the ruins of war proud Australians among them, were also coming to terms with two terrible truths: the horrors of the Holocaust and the unprecedented horror of nuclear weapons.
A depth of evil and a scale of destruction beyond imagining even a decade earlier.
Yet rather than recoil from that reality, our leaders stood together to face it.
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Kiribati · Day 4Taneti MaamauKiribati is proud to contribute in our own way to international peace and security through the service of our police officers under the United Nations flag.
For Kiribati, This is an expression of our belief that even the smallest country can contribute to global peace.
For Pacific people, the consequences of nuclear weapons are not merely historical.
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Pakistan · Day 4Muhammad Shehbaz SharifOur brave and valiant armed forces under the courageous leadership of Field Marshal Syed Asim Munir, responded with precision and professionalism.
They silenced the enemy, repulsed its attack, and taught it a lesson it shall never, ever forget.
And of course, thanks to President Donald Trump's resolute and visionary leadership, that hundreds of millions of lives in South Asia was saved.
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Singapore · Day 5Vivian BalakrishnanFirst, the loss of control of autonomous systems.
Second, that rogue actors could use AI to create bio weapons or other weapons of mass destruction or mass disruption.
Third, the economic, the social, the political, domestic disruptions are only just emerging.
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President of the General Assembly (opening) · Day 1Dr. Khalilur RahmanThere is clear precedent for the United Nations engagement with world-changing developments.
We did so on nuclear nonproliferation.
through the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer and with the United Nations Declaration on Human Cloning in 2005.
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Lithuania · Day 1Gitanas NausėdaIt is made worse by growing nuclear ambitions in the Middle East and Asia, as well as the irresponsible transfer of military-related goods, use items and sensitive technologies.
In recent months, Iran has continued attacking neighboring countries, often through its proxies, while actively impairing the freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
These actions constitute a serious threat to regional and international peace and security.
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Angola · Day 1João Manuel Gonçalves Lourençoover decades, as a victim of an embargo that continues and worsens the living conditions of the Cuban people.
Cuba is not a terrorist state.
It neither produces nor possesses nuclear weapons, chemical or biological weapons that could constitute an imminent or real threat to the national security of other countries, including the neighboring countries.
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Sierra Leone · Day 1Julius Maada BioIn the Middle East, the UN Charter and international law must guide us.
Civilians must be protected, humanitarian access ensured, aggression and occupation ended, and freedom of navigation safeguarded.
The inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination must be realized through a viable state of Palestine living alongside the state of Israel in peace and in security.
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Viet Nam · Day 1To LamDistinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen, the world is undergoing profound shift in the international order with many risks and uncertainties.
The tendency towards the threat or use of force and the arms race, especially the modernization of nuclear weapons and the development of new technology weapons, are heightening the risk of confrontation, miscalculation, conflict, and even of large-scale wars.
At the same time, the global economy is becoming increasingly fragmented amid mounting barriers to trade, investment, and technology.
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Croatia · Day 1Andrej PlenkovićNo country alone can successfully respond to the global transformations we witness today.
Artificial intelligence can accelerate development, but its use must remain consistent with legal frameworks, human dignity and democratic accountability.
Renewed nuclear rhetoric makes a firm commitment to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons more important than ever.
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Syrian Arab Republic · Day 2Ahmad Al-SharaaWith seven states, we started a group, the Breath of Freedom, to destroy the chemical weapons file.
We have been working with the OPCW, and we are working with the IAEA with transparency, as we believe that collective security is our duty.
The strict implementation of our treaties spares our world the horrors of chemical weapons and nuclear weapons.
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Romania · Day 2Nicuşor-Daniel DanAt the same time, recent developments in the West Bank are a genuine reason for concern and risk undermining the peace that this plan seeks to promote.
Regarding Iran, our position is clear.
Iran must not possess a nuclear weapon.
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Slovakia · Day 2Peter PellegriniOne principle must remain clear: machines should never be allowed to make life-or-death decisions on their own.
Just as the international community developed rules for nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, We also need strong international frameworks for these new technologies.
The United Nations can and should play a leading role in this effort.
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Zimbabwe · Day 3Emmerson Dambudzo MnangagwaThis has seen us dispatch the first export of locally produced lithium sulphate during the second quarter of the year, demonstrating that retaining value at the source is possible for shared prosperity.
Harnessing emerging technologies for national development is a key priority for our industrialization agenda.
Zimbabwe's National Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2026-2030 promotes human-centered, ethical, and responsible innovation.
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Guyana · Day 3Mohamed Irfaan Aliand within every uncertainty, the possibility of shaping a better future.
The possibility before us are immense.
We have the possibility of silencing the guns through dialogue and diplomacy.
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European Union · Day 3António CostaBecause the best argument for multilateralism is what it delivers on peace and security with the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, on climate action with the Paris Agreement, on poverty and health with the global response to COVID-19.
The truth is, when we act together, multilateralism delivers for people.
And this is why this week, the United Union, the European Union has launched together with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India, and Kenya, the P4M, Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace, and Prosperity.
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Senegal · Day 3Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar FayeIt is high time to act to halt the horror of mass murder and destruction.
No country No peace, no security can be viable, nor can it last without the two-state solution, Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital and Israel, the two living side by side within safe and internationally recognized borders.
In a situation of ongoing conflict which favors an arms race, which erodes disarmament mechanisms and fuels risk linked to new technologies.
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Fiji · Day 3Ratu Naiqama Tawakecolati LalabalavuDialogue is worth pursuing.
And peace, however difficult, is always worth building.
Mr. President, the Pacific knows the cost of militarization and nuclear testing.
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Bangladesh · Day 3Tarique RahmanBangladesh sees the United Nations as the centerpiece for establishing an accommodative global community based on mutual respect for one another's independence and sovereignty.
The tendency to divert development budgets towards military expenditure in different parts of the world reverses the direction of our journey towards global peace.
As a peace-loving nation, Bangladesh remains committed to the goals of complete and general disarmament, preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and arms control.
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South Africa · Day 3Ronald Ozzy LamolaTo restore respect for international law, we must protect those who deliver humanitarian assistance.
That is why South Africa endorses the Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel, supported by nearly 120 states, from all regions of the world.
Mr. President, 80 years ago, the first resolution of the General Assembly called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
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Monaco · Day 4Christophe MirmandThe people of Lebanon have the right to a fully sovereign state in peace throughout its territory.
In the Persian Gulf, finally, tensions around Iran remain a source of deep concern.
Monaco pays tribute to all the civilian victims of the conflict and reiterates its solidarity with the countries of the Gulf who have been affected by the attacks.
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Lesotho · Day 4Samuel Ntsokoane Matekaneprimary health, medicines, vaccines, diagnostics, and robust disease surveillance and pandemic preparedness.
The social and economic costs of cancer are profound.
With support from the International Atomic Energy Agency, Lesotho is developing its first radiotherapy and nuclear medicine facility.
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Solomon Islands · Day 4Matthew Cooper WaleWe call for stronger international cooperation, greater information sharing, sustained investment in the capacity of our law enforcement agencies, and the support for prevention and rehabilitation.
Our vision of a peaceful and secure Pacific extends beyond transnational crime.
As enshrined in the Ocean of Peace Declaration, our region must remain free of nuclear weapons and free from destabilizing external influence.
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Albania · Day 4Edi RamaNuclear fission changed the meaning of human survival.
Artificial intelligence is changing something even more intimate.
Who can enter the minds of a citizen, imitate a trusted voice, manufacture a reality calibrated to one person's fears, and do so millions and millions of time at once?
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Niger · Day 4Lamine Zeine Ali MahamanOur resources will now be managed by us and for us.
And Niger intends to sell its uranium on the international market in full transparency and in strict compliance with its nuclear nonproliferation obligations.
You will have heard at some point in the past France say that Niger was intending to use this uranium when they left our country they they sabotaged all of the material and Niger has invested some 30 billion of our francs to continue that production totally making use of Nigerian workers and experts not a single foreigner was involved in that The current stock belongs to our country, it does not belong to anyone, and we will sell it to all those who wish to buy, in total transparency, as I have just said.
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Egypt · Day 4Moustafa Kamal Madboulyespecially in translating commitments into financing flows, projects, and technologies that reach the countries and communities most in need.
In a world where geopolitical and technological transformations are accelerating, this must not lead us into more dangerous arms races.
Therefore, Egypt reaffirms its commitment to a balanced system of disarmament and non-proliferation, free from double standards.
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Tonga · Day 4Lord FakafanuaThis year, Tonga ratified United Nations Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities, reaffirming our commitment to the dignity and the equal participation of persons with disabilities.
We also acceded to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
In doing so, we completed the universalization of the CTBT in the Pacific.
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Bahrain · Day 4Abdullatif bin Rashid Al ZayaniThe aim is not to hold the technology that no one has the power to hold, but to ensure that its growth is surrounded by safeguards, just as the international community surrounded Nuclear energy with safeguards that preserved its benefits without preventing it.
This technology knows no borders.
A safeguard adopted by a single state is not a safeguard, just as a rule that applies in a single strait is not a rule.
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China · Day 5Han ZhengChina is firmly committed to pursuing peaceful development and has the best track record on peace and security among major countries.
is the largest contributor to peacekeepers among the permanent members of the UN Security Council.
It also took the initiative that led to the issuance of the first joint statement of the leaders of the five nuclear weapon states on preventing nuclear war.
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Lao People’s Democratic Republic · Day 5Thongsavanh PhomvihaneRemoving UXO is not merely a technical task.
It's about restoring fundamental safety and securing agricultural land and reclaiming development opportunity for our communities.
Building on this commitment, the Lao PDR proudly hosted the third review conference of the Convention on Cluster Munitions early this month.
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Philippines · Day 5Ma. Theresa LazaroAt the same time, we must secure our future by ensuring responsible behavior in outer space, reducing space threats, and preventing an arms race in outer space.
We also urge a renewed and rigorous commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation architecture.
Restoring trust in the NPT is imperative if we are to achieve our shared vision of a world free from the existential threat of nuclear weapons.
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Saudi Arabia · Day 5Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al SaudThis would contribute to restoring stability to the region and creating conditions conducive to dialogue and diplomacy.
We stress the importance of ensuring that any arrangements on the regional security must be comprehensive, effective and sustainable.
They must clearly address the root causes of threat and instability.
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Iceland · Day 5Thorgerdur Katrín GunnarsdóttirThe decades after the Cold War saw genocide in Rwanda, horrific wars in the former Yugoslavia and the Congo, the rise of international terrorism, and devastating civil wars.
25 years ago this month, terrorist attacks in the United States changed our world profoundly.
30 years ago, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was established.
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Germany · Day 5Johann WadephulMr. President, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, imagine if nuclear weapons were developed by private companies, if stockpiles were located on company grounds, and launch codes locked away in a safe in a CEO's office.
It's a disturbing thought.
When a technology has the power to fundamentally change the world, possibly even determine the fate of humanity, we need to ask who controls it, who sets the rules, who is accountable.
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Belarus · Day 5Maxim RyzhenkovGlobal supply chains are being disrupted, the energy crisis is entwined with the food crisis, and all of this hits the most vulnerable segments of the population the hardest.
An even more alarming sign is the collapse of the system of strategic stability.
For the first time since the 1970s, there are no longer any legally binding limits on strategic arms between the major nuclear powers.
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Malaysia · Day 5Mohamad Haji HasanThe citizens we serve and represent are afraid, Excellencies.
They are watching the world order fragment.
They are witnessing the reemergence of armed race.
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Canada · Day 5Anita AnandIt must never acquire a nuclear weapon.
Its threats to navigation rights in the Strait of Hormuz are a direct affront to international law.
We join our Gulf and European partners in strongly condemning Iran's attacks in the region.
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Cameroon · Day 5Lejeune Mbella MbellaIn recent decades, we have adopted agreements in different areas, and we continue to create the conditions for a world that is more just, a world where we can all live in peace and security.
Despite our efforts, nevertheless, wars and conflicts of all kinds persist.
The arms race is intensifying.
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- China · Day 6
Instead of self-reflection, it has spared no effort to glorify and whitewash them by fabricating narratives about threats from neighboring countries.
Among others, it attempts to cover up its ongoing expansion of military capacities.
In recent years, Japan has been drastically increasing military spending, relaxing restrictions on export of lethal weapons, advancing the deployment of intermediate and long-range missiles, strengthening offensive military capacities.
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- Japan · Day 6
Also, Japan firmly maintains the three non-nuclear principles.
Japan will never change the course it has taken as a peace-loving nation.
Regarding so-called enemy state clauses in the UN charters, UNGA Resolution 50/52, adopted with overwhelming support, including that of China in 1995, recognized these clauses as obsolete.
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- Democratic People's Republic of Korea · Day 6
To all intents and purposes, such Japan's moves are aimed at rounding off its real war capabilities against the DPRK and other neighboring countries.
What is worse, the political circles in Japan are spelling out such extremely bellicose remarks as a nuclear sharing with the United States, possession of nuclear submarines, and reexamination of the three non-nuclear principles.
Japan in public talks about the world without nuclear weapons under the signboard of the world's only atomic-bombed country, and actually behind the scenes works hard to go nuclear.
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