Estonia calls on North Korea to develop Its society, not create a nuclear weapon

Photo: Välisministeerium

At the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva today, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet condemned the nuclear test North Korea carried out on 12 February, reported Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"Instead of feeding their people and developing their society, the leadership of the country is spending money on nuclear testing. This is clearly in violation of the UN Security Council resolution and places the international community's goal of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons at risk," said Paet.

"The next logical step in the prevention of the spread of nuclear weapons is to begin negotiations for an agreement that would ban the production of fissile materials for the purpose of nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices," he added.

Paet stated that Estonia would like to become a full member of the Conference on Disarmament. "We would like to fully and equally participate in negotiations about disarmament," he stated.

In talking about preparations to conclude the negotiations for an international Arms Trade Treaty, Paet expressed hope that the year-long effort will finally pay off now that an agreement is within arm's reach. "We expect a strong and effective arms trade agreement to come from the final negotiations in March," said Paet.

"This would be the first legally binding international agreement between countries that sets common international standards for the import, export and transport of conventional weapons," he added.