VZCZCXRO6894
OO RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHTRO
DE RUCNDT #0860/01 2721235
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 291235Z SEP 09
FM USMISSION USUN NEW YORK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 7219
INFO RUCNDSC/DISARMAMENT CONFERENCE COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHGG/UN SECURITY COUNCIL COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE
RUEHII/VIENNA IAEA POSTS COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 USUN NEW YORK 000860 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PARM UNSC KNNP KSUM
SUBJECT: POTUS CHAIRS UNSC SUMMIT, PASSES UNANIMOUS 
RESOLUTION ON NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT AND NON-PROLIFERATION 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary. President Obama on September 24 convened a 
heads-of-state summit of the UN Security Council at which 
resolution 1887 on nuclear disarmament and nuclear 
non-proliferation was adopted unanimously and with full 
Council co-sponsorship.  In addition to the 15 Security 
Council members, the UN Secretary General and IAEA 
Director-General also made statements.  Although many 
delegations balanced their statements among the themes of 
nuclear disarmament, non-proliferation and peaceful uses of 
nuclear energy, some gave particular focus to one theme. 
Costa Rica, Austria, Mexico and Libya concentrated on nuclear 
disarmament, France focused almost exclusively on Iran and 
North Korea, and Uganda made a plea for peaceful uses of 
nuclear energy.  In addition to France, leaders from the UK, 
Japan and the U.S. made specific references to Iran and North 
Korea as proliferation threats.  All delegations warmly 
welcomed the President's initiative to convene the summit. 
End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) President Obama on September 24 convened a 
heads-of-state summit meeting of the Security Council. 
Resolution 1887 on nuclear disarmament and nuclear 
non-proliferation was adopted unanimously at the beginning of 
the meeting.  All 15 Council members co-sponsored the text. 
The President delivered the U.S. statement, stressing the 
threat and spread of nuclear weapons and the goal of a world 
free of nuclear weapons.  (See text at 
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the press office.)  UN Secretary 
General Ban was next to speak, saying that he had emphasized 
the need for a stronger role for the Council on the issue of 
nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation.  Ban 
focused his statement on three actions:  increase 
transparency and openness regarding the weapons programs of 
the nuclear-weapon states; promote universal membership in 
key treaties, such as a fissile material cut-off treaty 
(FMCT)and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT); and 
facilitate the parallel tracks of nuclear disarmament and 
nuclear non-proliferation, by making sure that the IAEA has 
the resources and support it needs. 
 
Nuclear Disarmament 
 
¶3. (SBU) Many states called for ratification of the CTBT and 
an early start to negotiations on a FMCT.  Oscar Arias, 
President of Costa Rica, said countries choose to create more 
nuclear weapons than abandon them, as evidenced by the more 
than 22,000 nuclear warheads in existence.  Austrian 
President Heinz Fischer said the goal of all states should be 
a world without nuclear weapons, and that the NPT is the core 
document to promote that goal.  Russian President Medvedev 
said, "(Russia) continues to reduce nuclear armaments way 
ahead of schedule."  He reiterated that the U.S. and Russia 
had carried out unprecedented reductions in strategic nuclear 
armaments in the framework of START and stated Russia's 
readiness to continue to move forward and its willingness to 
complete the post-START negotiations by December.  Mexican 
President Felipe Calderon said while Mexico welcomed the 
efforts of the U.S. and Russia to reduce their stockpiles of 
nuclear weapons, the two countries still "control 90 percent 
of the world's nuclear weapons."  Resolution 1887, he said, 
should help move forward the process of disarmament. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Chinese Premier Hu Jintao said all nuclear-weapon 
states should take the lead in nuclear disarmament and make 
"drastic reductions" in their arsenals, and he called for 
states to join the CTBT and start negotiations immediately on 
a FMCT.  Hu highlighted China's commitment to a no-first-use 
policy and urged all nuclear-weapon states to make similar 
pledges.  UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said nuclear-weapon 
states must pursue "active disarmament with a credible 
roadmap that will command the confidence of non-nuclear 
weapon states."   As a demonstration of the UK's disarmament 
pledge, Brown said that when the UK's next class of nuclear 
submarines entered into service in the mid-2020s, its fleet 
would be reduced from four boats to three.  Japan's Prime 
Minister Yukio Hatoyama made several references to Japan's 
unique status as the only country in the world that was the 
victim of a nuclear attack.  He called on the nuclear-weapon 
states to reduce their arsenals and adopt transparent 
measures on verification, and he urged early entry into force 
of the CTBT and FMCT.  Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan and 
Libyan Permanent Representative to the UN Abdurrahman Shalgam 
(Libyan Leader Qaddafi was not present at the meeting) 
highlighted the importance of establishing 
nuclear-weapon-free zones, in particular a zone in the Middle 
East, and Shalgam further asserted that Israel's Dimona 
nuclear facility should be inspected just like any other 
country's facility. Shalgam said, "My country took the 
historic initiative to give up the nuclear bomb," and by 
 
USUN NEW Y 00000860  002 OF 002 
 
 
doing so, "made a great service to international peace and 
security."  Thus, he said, "Libya deserves the appreciation 
of the world" and a permanent seat on the Security Council. 
 
Non-Proliferation 
 
¶5. (SBU) Most speakers emphasized the need to strengthen the 
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and the IAEA.  French 
President Nicolas Sarkozy made the day's strongest comments 
about the proliferation challenges posed by Iran and North 
Korea.  In unscripted remarks, Sarkozy said that Iran's and 
North Korea's actions are undermining the very rules on which 
collective security is based.  Sarkozy said, "In violation of 
five Security Council resolutions, Iran is pursuing its 
nuclear proliferation activities." UK PM Gordon Brown said 
the world cannot stand by while Iran and North Korea reject 
the opportunities of peaceful civil nuclear power and instead 
take steps to develop nuclear weapons.  He also said 
countries must give the IAEA the resources it needs to verify 
compliance.  The Japanese Prime Minister was the only other 
speaker (besides the U.S.) to name Iran and North Korea as 
proliferation threats, and said stronger measures were needed 
to fully implement resolution 1874, which imposed sanctions 
on North Korea. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Croatian President Stjepan Mesic said that nuclear 
non-proliferation must come before disarmament, and called 
upon countries to prevent abuse of the NPT.  Austrian 
President Fischer and Turkish PM Erdogan noted that 
resolution 1540 on non-proliferation of WMD required further 
implementation.  Medvedev called upon states to take 
advantage of non-proliferation mechanisms through 1540 and 
the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism.  Chinese 
Premier Hu urged all countries to join the NPT and tighten 
and improve export controls.  IAEA Director General Mohamed 
Elbaradei lamented that the IAEA's legal authority is 
severely limited and 90 states have not allowed full 
inspections of nuclear facilities, a problem exacerbated by 
the fact that the IAEA's verification mandate only includes 
nuclear material, not the weaponization of the material.  To 
counter this, Elbaradei said countries need to work toward 
putting in place a multilateral fuel bank of low-enriched 
uranium to implement an accessible nuclear fuel cycle. 
Elbaradei also made a plea for adequate funding for the IAEA, 
saying that the agency cannot fulfill its mandate at its 
current level of funding. 
 
 
Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy 
 
¶7. (SBU)  Most delegations voiced the need for enhancement of 
access to civil nuclear energy.  Uganda's President Yoweri 
Museveni said that Africa is not interested in nuclear 
weapons but nuclear energy, and he called on states to work 
toward making access to civil nuclear energy more feasible, a 
point echoed by Burkina Faso President Blaise Comaore, French 
President Sarkozy, and Mexican President Calderon. 
RICE