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Escalation of tensions ‘jeopardizes the acquis of disarmament’, says UN official

The statement was voiced by Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva, Tatiana Valovaya, who assumed the office in May

Tatiana Valovaya Press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission

Tatiana Valovaya

© Press service of the Eurasian Economic Commission

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GENEVA, August 14. /TASS/. The current escalation of tensions jeopardizes achievements on the trajectory of disarmament and nonproliferation, which is why progress in the activity of the Geneva Conference on Disarmament is especially vital, Secretary-General of the Conference on Disarmament Tatiana Valovaya said on Wednesday.

"In reality, the current escalation of tensions globally is severely jeopardizing the acquis of disarmament, non-proliferation and the entire body of the existing instruments," said Valovaya, who is also Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva. She reiterated a statement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres last February, who said that "key components of the international arms control architecture are collapsing."

"This trend makes the need for progress in the Conference all the more urgent," she stressed.

This speech was the first for Tatiana Valovaya at a session of the Conference on Disarmament after she assumed the post of Director-General of the United Nations Office at Geneva in May.

The Conference on Disarmament was established in 1979 as the single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community. It brings together 65 countries.

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