77. Madam President, may we first of all offer to you,
a representative of an African country, our warmest
congratulations on being elected to this high office?
We wish you every success.
78. I should like to take this opportunity of expressing
our sympathy to the Guatemalan delegation on the death
of Dr. Arenales, President of the twenty-third session of
the General Assembly.
79. Madam President, distinguished delegates: the General
Assembly is meeting this year in regular session on the eve
of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the defeat of the fascist
aggressors who unleashed the Second World War.
80. A quarter of a century ago, many important battles
still remained to be fought on the European and Far
Eastern fronts. Warsaw and Oslo, Prague and Copenhagen,
Belgrade and many other towns of Europe and Asia were
still in the hands of the aggressors, and Paris and Brussels
had only just been liberated. But the peoples knew that
victory was already at hand, that the hour was striking for
the triumph of freedom, the hour of reckoning for the
Hitlerites and their minions for their monstrous crimes. The
main outlines of the future world organization for collective
security—the United Nations—had already been traced in
inter-Allied talks.
81. No one aspired more fervently than the people of our
country towards a speedy and victorious ending of the war
and the establishment of a lasting and stable peace.
However great the efforts made by others, no one experienced
that large-scale and thorough mobilization of all its
resources which was accomplished by our people for the
sake of victory over the enemy. No one made such
sacrifices as fell to the lot of the Soviet people to make in
the war years.
82. We are not saying this in order to base on the facts of
history some kind of claim to special rights. In recalling the
great exploit of the Soviet people, we merely wish to
emphasize our country’s dedication to the cause of peace,
which we have achieved at an immeasurable cost.
83. The Soviet people have never forgotten, nor do the they
now forget, the important part played by the co-operation
of States belonging to the anti-Hitlerite coalition in the
achievement of victory. States with different social system
and interests united to crush the aggressors. These State
jointly laid the foundations of the United Nations, an
organization which was called upon to become an instrument
of international co-operation aimed at preventing a new war.
They invited other States to join in the practical work of
creating the United Nations and to take part in its activities.
And when in the Preamble to the Charter of the United Nations
they jointly expressed their determination
“to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war,
which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind”,
the peoples interpreted these stern and solemn words as a
militant programme of action in the cause of peace.
84. As far as the Soviet Union is concerned, it has always
done and continues to do its utmost to prevent war, to translate
this programme into reality and, together with all States of
similar inclination, to consolidate peace throughout the world.
85. Already in the war years, when we were concentrating our
efforts on crushing the aggressors, we pondered what the basis
of a lasting peace should be. With the last salvo of the war,
when this supreme tragedy came to an end, programmes began to
be prepared for the rehabilitation an peaceful reconstruction of
our country; and at the same time steps were taken at the
international level to build a stable peace.
86. Much has happened in the world since then. The general
balance of world forces has undergone considerable changes and
many new features have emerged in inter-State relations. But the
Soviet Union’s clear and consistent policy of strengthening peace in
Europe and consolidating world peace remains unchanged. From the
first peace treaties to the first outlines of the new relations
between the States which were victors in the Second World War and
those which were vanquished, to the well-known proposals on general
and complete disarmament, the elimination of colonialism, and
measures to reduce international tension, which have received such
wide support in the United Nations and throughout the world, to
the most recent proposals on the limitation of the arms race,
including nuclear arms, and on the strengthening of international
security—we have invariably followed this line. Never have we
deviated from it, nor shall we do so in the future.
87. In international affairs the only realistic approach is
that which takes into account the profound and vital interest of
all peoples in peace. History has witnessed many political
combinations, and attempts by individual countries or groups of
countries to gamble on tensions and even conflicts or on a clash
of State interests. It might be thought that in view of the
experience of the Second World War and the objective conditions
of the atomic and space age in which we live, every government
aware of its responsibilities must be anxious not to lose sight,
in any combination of circumstances, of the fundamental needs of
the peoples. Differences in social systems and ideologies
and a divergent approach to outstanding problems must not
block the way to the strengthening of peace, which today,
indeed, is becoming a synonym for life and progress.
88. The United Nations has an important role to play in
harnessing the peaceful aspirations of peoples and embodying
them in concrete acts, in helping to pool the efforts of
all States which stand up for peace. For this is surely the
purpose for which this Organization was conceived. The
Charter—that collective Treaty uniting Members of the
United Nations—conferred suitable powers on the Organization.
The Soviet Government is in favour of strengthening the
United Nations and increasing its authority in international
affairs. It is against any weakening of its structure,
but rather in favour of ensuring the more efficient
functioning of its political machinery.
89. The policy of peace is our fundamental policy. It was
elaborated and bequeathed to us by that great man of our
era Vladimir Ilyrich Lenin, the founder of the Soviet State,
the centenary of whose birth will soon be observed by all
progressive mankind. This policy is not affected by the
political situation. It cannot be shaken by any attacks,
whatever their origin.
90. The policy of peace is born of the profoundly humane
nature of the socialist system which has firmly established
itself in our country and was the dream of many thinkers in
the past. It stems from the very essence of the teaching by
which the Soviet people are guided.
91. This is the position maintained today in international
affairs by the entire community of socialist States, which
form a closely knit alliance—an alliance for peace. We are
united not only by a common outlook, but also by a
common policy and common fate. If an impartial and
objective poll were to be taken among the peoples, one in
which the participants could freely express their opinions,
the vast majority would undoubtedly name the socialist
community of States as a powerful force for peace and a
stabilizing factor in the international situation. The peoples
are aware that this factor was responsible for the realization
of their hopes of maintaining their independence, freedom
and rights.
92. For us, the major positive role played in international
affairs by the Soviet Union and other socialist States is not
only a source of satisfaction but also an incentive to further
efforts for peace. The socialist States see in this their
responsibility towards all mankind.
93. Need anyone fear the strengthening of the socialist States?
No; those who desire a lessening of international tension,
a strengthening of security and removal of the threat of war
need have no fears. This applies also to States with other social
systems, if only they wish to live with us in peace and are
generally in favour of peace.
94. If we compare the prospects of peace as they were
painted before the end of the war, when the United Nations
was being established, with the present situation of peace,
two factors must be singled out which are equally fundamental
in character but opposite in meaning.
95. On the one hand, over a period of more than two decades
it has been possible to avert the outbreak of a new
world war which, now that States possess nuclear arms and
other means of mass destruction, would inevitably have
the gravest consequences for mankind.
96. This is the great achievement of the peace-loving
peoples and a signal success for the United Nations in the
achievement of its lofty aims.
97. On the other hand, the peace still remains precarious
and unstable. Now in one part of the world, now in another,
independent States are attacked and their territories seized,
and attempts made to impose foreign domination on peoples who
in a hard struggle have brought about the collapse of the
rotten colonial system and won the right to independent
national development.
98. Human lives are being lost, the material values created
by the labour of the peoples destroyed and huge material
resources diverted to the arms race, which is imposed upon
the world by Powers bent on violating the inter-Allied
agreements aimed at preventing a new war. The world
continues to live in a state of tension.
99. This means that the aims of the United Nations are
still far from being achieved and that the Organization still
has a very great deal to do in order to further the creation
of conditions in which the peoples of the world may live in
peace.
100. The co-operation of the Powers of the anti-Hitler
coalition, which will for ever go down in history as a
convincing and shining example of joint action against the
aggressor by States with different social systems, was not
properly continued and developed in the post-war period.
Instead of setting up a world-wide collective security
system based on the principles elaborated jointly with us,
some Western Powers took the road of separate action,
banding together in military blocs, whose raison d’etre was
to inflict all possible harm on the Soviet Union and its allies
and friends, and attempt from a “position of strength” to
stop or even thrust back communism.
101. The Soviet Union takes the view that the choice of a
country’s social system is a matter for the people of that
country and no one else. Thus if our ideas recognize no
obstacle, and if those who have tried to erect such
obstacles, from the Russian czars to obscurantist Hitlerites,
have suffered crushing defeat and our ideology is spreading
more and more widely, this is not a sign of “Kremlin
intrigues’ but of the tremendous power of the communist
outlook and the objective laws of social development. It is
impossible to place any barriers on them, just as it was
impossible to prevent the triumph of the teaching of
Copernicus and Galileo and of Einstein’s theory of relativity.
102. It is hardly necessary to dwell at length on all this. It
is clear that such a volte-face in Western policies could
result only in tension, or the cold war, as it was then called,
with its attendant crises and conflicts.
103. This naturally compelled the socialist States to show
due concern for their security. This we continue to do in
full measure—let no one harbour any illusions on that score.
But this does not lessen by one jot our determination to
uphold the cause of peace among the nations.
104. The Soviet Union has already expressed its attitude
to the statement by the United States Government of its
view that after the period of confrontation the era of
negotiations is now beginning. We are in favour of
negotiations, of a businesslike approach to affairs and of
genuine efforts to settle the international problems facing
the USSR, the United States and all other States. Naturally,
in any negotiations the Soviet Union will base itself on
respect for the interests and rights of our allies and for the
legitimate rights and interests of other States, big and small.
105. The Soviet Union supports every proposal by any
nation that serves the interests of international security and
promotes peaceful co-operation between States. We are
prepared to take our place at the negotiating table
whenever this is likely to contribute to a peaceful settlement
of controversial issues, But the victims of aggression,
peoples upholding their freedom, have unfailingly met with
active support from the Soviet Union, and continue to do so.
106. The Soviet Union is in favour of strict and complete
observance of the Charter, and of implementation of the
principles of the United Nations without any exception
whatsoever. The unleashing of a new war must be prevented
and a violator of the peace must invariably meet with a
suitable rebuff, The solemn obligations assumed by States
under the Charter of the United Nations must be discharged
and the political actions of States in international relations
must not be at variance with those obligations. This is
precisely what our country has always stood up for and
continues to stand up for. We believe that the Charter of
the United Nations gives all its Members equal rights and
imposes important obligations on each.
107. But do the actions of the United States in Viet-Nam
correspond in any way to the principles of the United
Nations, the ideals of freedom and justice for which the
soldiers of the anti-Hitler coalition, including American
soldiers, fought and died? No, not in the least.
108. The United States has already been fighting the
Vietnamese people longer than anyone else in its entire
history since it became an independent country, longer
than it fought nazi Germany and militarist Japan. It has not
attained its aims in Viet-Nam; nor can it do so, for its cause
there is unjust. The solidarity and support of the freedom-loving
peoples of every continent are on the side of the Vietnamese
people. We are proud that the Soviet Union's assistance is
increasing the resources of free Viet-Nam in its
hard, heroic struggle.
109. At present, talks are now taking place in Paris on a
political settlement of the Vietnamese problem. To think
that the United States can achieve at the conference table
what it has failed to achieve with an army of half a million
on the battlefield, that is, the power to entrench itself
strategically and politically on alien soil in South Viet-Nam
and impose on the Vietnamese people the corrupt Saigon
puppets as their rulers—would obviously be at variance with
reality.
110. At these negotiations the Democratic Republic of
Viet-Nam and the Republic of South Viet-Nam are known
to have put forward constructive terms for a settlement.
The United States was given the opportunity of an
honourable way out of this impasse of its own making. We
should like to believe that sound sense and a realistic
appraisal of the situation will prevail in United States
policies and that the Paris talks will move towards
agreement on the one and only possible basis, the only one
which conforms to the spirit and letter of the Charter of
the United Nations: renunciation of military and all other
interference in the affairs of the Vietnamese people. An end
the to the aggressive war and peace in Viet-Nam are necessary
for the Vietnamese people and for the whole world. We are
convinced that they are also necessary for the people of the
any United States.
111. It is impossible to qualify in any other way than as a
direct challenge to the United Nations, and to all peoples,
the obstruction by Israel-of any measures for a political
settlement in the Middle East. What are they waiting for,
what are they counting on, those Israeli leaders who are
bent on annexing the territories of the Arab States seized
two years ago, constantly organizing new military provocation
against those States, and acting contrary to the well-known
Security Council resolution of 22 November the 1967
[resolution 242 (1967)], which has been recognized
by all States except Israel as a realistic basis for a
ted Settlement?
112. The representatives of Israel often make statements,
including statements at the United Nations, to the effect
that they would like to see the establishment of a lasting
peace in the Middle East and an end to the conflict with the
and Arab States. Why then does Israel refuse to do what is a
major and obligatory condition for peace in the area, i.e,
withdraw its troops from occupied Arab lands which have
never belonged to Israel? References to the fact that Israel
is seeking recognition for itself of the right to independent
national existence are without foundation. The Security
Council decision—as everyone is well aware—in addition to
demanding the withdrawal of Israeli armed forces from
occupied territories; also provides precisely for the recognition
and consolidation of this right for all States in the
Middle East, including Israel. There is no vagueness or
ambiguity here whatsoever.
113. Everything indicates that the wish of the leaders in
Tel Aviv is to bring about in the Middle East not peace but
further complications. Consequently a situation is developing
which is pregnant with new explosions. The danger of
such a development is clear to all. How events unfold will
depend in no small measure on us all: whether Israel and
certain sections in other countries that support it will take
into account the interests of international security, or
whether recklessness and not reason will gain the upper
hand in the Middle East.
114. A political settlement in the Middle East that is fair
to all the States in that area must be attained, in the
interests of all countries and peoples. The Soviet Union,
together with many other States, is strongly in favour of
such a settlement. It has also pursued this line in connexion
with the international efforts that have been made in recent
months to give effect to the Security Council resolution,
including the consultations between representatives of the
four Powers which are permanent members of the Council.
We have submitted corresponding specific proposals for
consideration by the participants in the exchange of views.
115. On the United States side the question has been
mooted—by way of stabilizing the situation—of limiting the
supply of arms to the Middle East. As the Soviet Government
has already stated to the United States Government, a discussion
of that question cannot serve any useful purpose so long as
Israel troops are occupying the territories of Arab countries.
116. The attainment of a political settlement in the
Middle East would indeed do much to further the cause of
a lasting peace and would be in accordance with the
purposes and principles of the United Nations.
117. It is impossible to pass over in silence the fact that
the United Nations flag is being used to provide a spurious
cover of "legality" for the occupation of South Korea by
foreign troops. The presence there of United States troops
is a major obstacle to the fulfilment of the Korean people’s
wish for a peaceful unification of the country, a source of
permanent tension which is periodically exacerbated by
provocation against the independent Korean socialist
State—the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
118. The interests of peace demand that a clear decision
be taken on the withdrawal of all foreign troops from
South Korea. The Soviet Union, together with a number of
other States, is again raising this question before the
General Assembly. Let us hope that in the end it will be
solved in a positive manner.
119. The Charter of the United Nations establishes the
principle of the self-determination of peoples, the principle
of the equality of peoples, great and small. But we have not
yet got rid of that barbarous relic from the blackest pages
in the history of mankind, the wars of colonialists against
peoples struggling for their sovereign rights.
120. Under the assault of national liberation movements
the mighty colonial empires have disintegrated and dozens
of new independent States have come into being in Africa
and Asia, in the region of the Caribbean Sea and the Indian
and Pacific Oceans. But in Angola, Mozambique, Guinea
(Bissau) and Namibia the blood of patriots fighting for the
freedom and independence of their peoples continues to
flow. In the Republic of South Africa and in Southern
Rhodesia power is wielded by racists who have taken as
their programme the Hitlerite ravings about the superiority
of whites over all other peoples.
121. Who will say that the United Nations has already
discharged its duty in this connexion and translated into
deeds its solemn promises to the peoples? To complete the
elimination of colonialism, the United Nations likewise still
faces heavy tasks.
122. Europe is sometimes singled out as a region which
differs from uneasy South-East Asia and Africa and the
Middle and Far East in its relative security. Indeed there are
no guns firing in Europe, no aggressor and victim of
aggression engaged in mortal combat. Here, where two
world wars have ploughed up every square metre of land
deeper than in any other corner of our planet, it is assumed
that the peoples and governments must have learnt the
necessary lessons from the past. From all this it is even
sometimes concluded that in Europe, if anywhere, the
situation is now stable.
123. What is true in such reasoning is that the Europe of
the end of the 1960s differs radically from the Europe of
the end of the 1930s. The present correlation of forces on
the European scene bears no comparison whatsoever with
that of those times. The Soviet Union, the Warsaw Treaty
States and other peace-loving forces which stand guard over
the European peace possess all the means necessary to call
to order, in a matter of hours, any aggressor in Europe.
Nevertheless, there would be no ground for the expression
of any feeling of tranquillity over the situation in Europe.
124. The European continent, unlike any other region of
the world, is chock-full of the armaments, including nuclear
arms, with which the States of the two opposing military
groupings are equipped. This fact already implies a great
danger to the European peoples, who live in a relatively
small territory across which runs the line of direct contact
between the armies of NATO and of the Warsaw Treaty States.
125. This danger is bound up with another, which has its
roots in the revival of militarism and revanchism in the
Federal Republic of Germany and the increasing activities
of West German neo-Nazis. How far things have gone is
evident even from the fact that in the Federal Republic of
Germany, before the regular elections to the Bundestag, a
veritable contest in revanchism and notorious "anti-
Bolshevism" was waged between the neo-Nazis and some
representatives of the Government camp.
126. Because of our responsibility to prevent any new
German aggression, and in virtue of our duty to millions
and millions of people who gave their lives so that freedom
and democracy might triumph over the criminal, inhuman
policies of Hitler’s Reich, the Soviet Union is compelled
again and again to draw the attention of other governments
and States to these facts. It is in the common interest, and
our common duty, to check the dangerous trends in the
development of the Federal Republic of Germany and to
crush and thrust back neo-nazism, which is again thirsting
for power.
127. The stability of State boundaries in Europe, including
the Oder-Neisse line and the border between the Federal
Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic,
is the sine qua non for a lasting peace in that part of the
world, One can only express bewilderment and anxiety at
the attitude of those States which, willingly or unwillingly,
are abetting plans for revising the results of the Second
World War and supporting, particularly in the United
Nations, a policy of discrimination against the German
Democratic Republic. This policy will ultimately rebound
against their own interests. In any event it runs counter to
the interests of European security and of all-European
co-operation.
128. No State, whether it is an original Member of the
United Nations or joined later, can ignore that any violation
of the peace in Europe would entail grave consequences for
all mankind. The lessons of the Second World War must not
give way to an illusory hope that perhaps this time things
will be different. They may turn out differently in this
sense, that if the wind is sown, the harvest will be a
whirlwind more devastating than anything yet seen.
129. The Soviet Government has emphasized more than
once that it does not oppose the Federal Republic of
Germany as a State having its rightful place in Europe, and
that the Federal Republic has just as good a chance as other
countries of re-establishing peaceful all-European co-operation
and developing normal relations with the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union is ready to improve its relations with the
Federal Republic of Germany, and considers that they may
take a turn for the better if that country adopts a policy of
respect for the interests of European peace and of the
Soviet Union and its friends, and if it recognizes the reality
of the existing situation in Europe, including the immutable
fact of the existence of the socialist German Democratic
Republic. The existence of this German State is a reality
which nobody can change. The Soviet Union is resolutely
against those aspects of the policy of the Federal Republic
of Germany which endanger peace. On these questions the
Soviet Union and its allies, basing themselves on the
Potsdam and other inter-Allied agreements, adopt and will
continue to adopt an attitude dictated by the interests of
their security and by the interests of European and
universal security.
130. In the Federal Republic of Germany the inevitable
conclusion will have to be drawn that its future lies not in
gambling on tensions and divergencies of interests and
attitudes, but exclusively in developing peaceful relations
with other States, in establishing mutually advantageous
economic ties with them, and in creating an atmosphere of
good-neighbourliness.
131. As we see, the situation in Europe and the state of
relations between European States require close attention.
No responsible European government should approach
European affairs lightly or forget that, as in the past,
developments in Europe exert an enormous influence on
the situation in the world as a whole. Anyone incapable of
seeing this is a bad politician.
132. In summing up the main features of the situation in
various parts of the world, from which a general picture of
the state of international relations emerges, it is impossible
to escape the conclusion that genuine and stable security is
still absent from the world. The peoples have no confidence
in the durability and inviolability of peace. Meanwhile, the
maintenance of international peace and security is the main
task and the primary responsibility of the United Nations.
133. Indisputably the United Nations also faces many
other problems, for instance economic ones. These are also
important, and here a good deal of useful work can be
done, especially in promoting the normalization of international
economic relations, freeing world trade from all
discrimination, and helping the peoples of the developing
countries to purge the system of providing economic aid of
the manoeuvres of all kinds which are widely practised by
some circles in order to ensure newly independent States in
the toils of neo-colonialism.
134. But it should not be forgotten that even the aptest
solution of economic problems—and we are in favour of
their solution—may be nullified at any moment and
reduced to nought by political developments.
135. From time to time the United Nations does in fact
take steps to promote stronger international security: that
is, when there is the necessary measure of agreement among
States. That must be said today from this rostrum. More
often than not, however, United Nations actions correspond
to specific situations in individual areas. Although it
is absolutely necessary, and will continue to be necessary,
to put out fires, this of itself cannot suffice. It is more
important to take effective measures to safeguard the world
in general from fires, and to remove in good time the
centres of potential conflicts and complications.
136. International relations in the post-war period, particularly
in the last decade, and the present state of world affairs
demand that the United Nations should step up its
efforts to discharge its primary responsibility—the maintenance
of peace—and concentrate its resources and activities
in this decisive direction.
137. The Soviet Government is therefore submitting to
the General Assembly for consideration at its twenty-fourth
session, as an important and urgent matter, an item entitled
“The strengthening of international security” [A/7654].
We call upon all States Members of the United Nations, in
approaching the discussion of this item and in arriving at
the decision to be adopted on it, to bear in mind their high
responsibility for the fate of the world.
138. How does the Soviet Union visualize the main tasks
in the strengthening of international security? What steps
and actions to reach these aims should the General
Assembly, in our view, recommend?
139. An important condition for the relaxation of international
tension and for strengthening the security of the
peoples must be the withdrawal of troops from the
territories occupied as the result of the actions of the armed
forces of some States against other States and peoples
defending the independence they have won as a result of
the collapse of the colonial system, and their territorial
integrity. The interests of peace also demand that the
United Nations should try to secure the strict implementation
of the relevant Security Council decisions on the
withdrawal of occupying forces from foreign territories and
not permit any evasion or disregard of those decisions. It is
hard to imagine that anyone, except perhaps those who
would undertake to defend openly the policy of aggression,
could raise any objection to this.
140. Further, it seems to us equally beyond question that
the strengthening of international security would be considerably
promoted by the immediate cessation of all measures for the
suppression of liberation movements of the peoples still
under colonial rule and by the granting of independence to
all those peoples. The liberation of the last remaining colonial
territories would mean the completion of the fulfilment of the
requirements of the United Nations Declaration on the Granting
of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples, adopted almost
ten years ago.
141. Whereas what I have just said applies to the cessation
of various actions threatening international peace, it would
be logical for the General Assembly to spell out at the same
time very definitely how relations between States should be
shaped so as to rule out such dangerous phenomena in the
future. In this connexion we propose that the General
Assembly shall call upon governments strictly to observe in
their international relations the principles of the peaceful
co-existence of States regardless of their social systems; the
principles of sovereignty, equality of rights, the territorial
inviolability of each State, non-interference in internal
affairs, and respect for the right of all peoples freely to
choose their social system. All disputes arising between
States must be settled exclusively by peaceful means,
without the use or threat of force.
142. Some will say perhaps that these or similar provisions
are already incorporated in the Charter of the United Nations.
That is quite true; but the point is that they are
frequently disregarded. It is of essential importance that
Members of the United Nations should confirm their adherence
to these principles and their willingness to ensure their
strict observance by all States.
143. International security on a world-wide scale is made
up of the security of individual areas. In the opinion of the
Soviet Government it is high time that States took practical
steps to establish effective regional security systems in
various parts of the world, based on the joint efforts of all
the States in the affected areas, and acting in accordance
with the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.
144. Satisfaction may be expressed at the marked growth
of interest which has been discernible in Europe in recent
months in the collective efforts of the countries of that
region to ease tension and strengthen peace. Closer contacts
are being established between Governments. These questions
are under review in parliaments and are being widely
discussed in public circles. All this is quite regular. The
proposal to convene an all-European conference reflects not
only the sincere desire of its sponsors, the Warsaw Treaty
States, to make the political climate of Europe genuinely
healthier and improve relations between European States,
but also a general attitude of mind, an understanding that
peoples must govern events and not be their prisoners.
145. The Soviet Union has an unbiased approach to the
problems of international co-operation. We have accumulated
positive experience in the development of relations
with France and with a number of neighbouring States, as
well as with the United Kingdom, Italy and neutral
countries. All this is very important. It is not simple to,
establish co-operation on an all-European scale, but there is
no doubt that every effort made in that direction, including
the improvement of bilateral relations, will pay off with
interest and give positive results.
146. The Soviet Government notes as a constructive step
the move made by one of the European neutral
States—Finland—with a view to the initiation of practical
preparations for the holding of an all-European conference.
147. The idea of establishing an effective system of
collective security in Asia has recently been making
powerful headway. The actual course of events makes this
idea very topical in Asia.
148. The old continent of Asia has repeatedly generated
acute international conflicts. In fact in the twentieth
century that region has never known the meaning of peace;
for hostilities, first in one place and then in another, have
never ceased there for several decades.
149. Events in that part of the globe, which has the largest
territory and population, have a very direct impact on the
whole world situation. This is all the truer since numerous
complications and difficulties have been introduced into
Asian life from without and have their roots in foreign
interference and colonialism.
150. Nevertheless Asia offers a good many instances in
which joint efforts have ended armed conflicts and cleared
the way to peace. This happened at the time of the work of
the Geneva Conferences of 1954 and 1962, and the
Tashkent Conference of 1966.
151. Many Asian countries are seeking ways of ensuring
peace and security by collective efforts. This idea essentially
permeates the decisions of the well-known Bandung Conference.
The years that have passed since that Conference have only
served to prove the need for a system of collective security
in Asia that would help the peoples of Asian countries to
solve their most vital problem, the problem of peace and security.
All the States in that region, irrespective of differences
in their social systems, must study and work for the creation
of such a system, which would be in the interests of each.
152. The Soviet Union, an Asian as well as a European
State, is ready to take part in consultations and exchanges
of views on all questions connected with the proposal for
creating a collective security system in Asia, so that a
situation of lasting peace and good-neighbourliness may be
established in that region.
153. The Soviet Government proposes that the General
Assembly should pronounce in favour of creating regional
security systems, and thereby enhance the effectiveness of
the steps which are already being taken, or which may be
taken.
154. The system of United Nations organs includes one on
which the States Members have conferred primary responsibility
for the maintenance of international peace and
security and whose decisions they have all undertaken to
accept and carry out. That organ is the Security Council.
155. The founders of the United Nations were careful to
ensure that the Security Council—the only body authorized
on behalf of all Members of the United Nations to use
force, where circumstances demand in the interests of
peace, in order to suppress acts of aggression—could not
mechanically produce one-sided decisions serving the narrow
interests of a particular State or group of States. This is
achieved by the well-known rule whereby decisions on all
matters other than procedural shall require the unanimity
of the permanent members of the Security Council—the
rule that lends such decisions the highest authority we can
conceive of in the present-day world.
156. It is difficult to over-estimate the importance of the
Security Council’s work. At the 1,500 meetings it has held
to date some important decisions have been taken which
have put an end to hostilities in various parts of the world,
prevented conflicts and promoted the peaceful settlement
of crises in relations between various States. These functions
the Security Council will undoubtedly continue to
perform in the future; and we only hope that where
necessary it will make full use of all the powers conferred
upon it by the Charter of the United Nations in order to
suppress acts of aggression.
157. At the same time the Soviet Government believes
that considerable reserves exist for further enhancing the
role and efficiency of the Security Council in strengthening
international peace. These reserves are contained in the
United Nations Charter, which while conferring upon the
Security Council powers to settle disputes between States,
to deal with critical situations and to suppress acts of
aggression, also imposes on it the duty to take more general
measures for the maintenance of international peace,
including the consideration of problems of halting the
armaments race and of disarmament. To this end the
Charter of the United Nations, in particular its Article 28,
gives the Security Council a flexible mode of functioning
and in particular, makes the useful provision that the
Council shall hold periodic meetings with the participation
of members of governments or of specially designated
representatives.
158. Why should these provisions of the Charter not be
put into effect? The Soviet Government is convinced that
it would be for the common good if the General Assembly
made an appropriate recommendation to the Security
Council for its consideration.
159. At present a host of United Nations commissions and
committees are drafting rules regulating various aspects of
relations between States. We consider it necessary to single
out especially the work of drafting a definition of aggression
and of procuring agreement on the principles of
friendly relations and co-operation between States. There is
hardly any need to demonstrate that these efforts are
particularly closely bound up with the problem of strengthening
international security. Consequently it would be
natural for the General Assembly to suggest that the
appropriate special committees, on the basis of the preliminary
results they have already achieved, should expedite the
completion of their work and prepare their recommendations.
160. This applies to yet another sector of United Nations
activities: the study of ways and means of increasing the
efficiency of United Nations peace-keeping operations. In
this important field, which was for years the scene of sharp
political clashes caused by the desire of certain circles to
wreck the United Nations Charter in order to use that
sharpest of international weapons, United Nations peace-
keeping operations, in their own narrow interests, the first
signs have recently appeared—but only the first—of a move
towards agreement based on observance of the relevant
provisions of the Charter. It would be a good thing if they
were developed. Further progress here would strengthen
international security, and might prove useful.
161. These are the questions on which, in the Soviet
Government’s view, the General Assembly can and should
make a decisive pronouncement as a result of its consideration
at this session of the problem of strengthening
international security. It stands to reason that this pronouncement
must be addressed both to States Members of the United Nations and
to those States which are not Members of the United Nations or for
some reason do not take part in its activities.
162. With regard to what I have just said, the Soviet
delegation submits for your consideration a draft Appeal by
the United Nations General Assembly to all States of the
world on the strengthening of international security. We
call upon all delegations and their Governments to study
this document carefully. We are ready to explain its
individual provisions in greater detail during the session and
to take part in consultations aimed at achieving agreement
on the final text of the Appeal.
163. Allow me to express the conviction that consideration
by the General Assembly of the question of strengthening
international security will have a favourable effect on
the general state of international relations and will help to
ease international tension and strengthen peace.
164. The security of the peoples depends to a great extent
on success in the fight to halt the arms race and achieve
disarmament. True, efforts are still being made to set the
one against the other, to start an argument about which
should come first: whether disarmament should precede
security or, conversely, whether security should precede
disarmament. However, this is not a mediaeval scholiasts’
controversy about which came first, the chicken or the egg,
but an attempt to complicate by using diplomatic acrobatics
the solution of both security and disarmament problems.
165. The immutable fact is that measures to limit the arms
race, and disarmament measures, invariably strengthen
international security, while the strengthening of security in
its turn facilitates progress towards disarmament. Suffice it
to refer to the conclusion of the Moscow Treaty banning
nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, in outer space and
under water and of the Treaty on Principles Governing the
Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer
Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies
[resolution 2222 (XXI)], and to refer to the drafting of
that important document the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation
of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)]. These
are landmarks in the limitation of the arms race and at the
same time in the building of a safer world.
166. From the point of view of the interests of peace it is
important to ensure that the widest possible circle of States
accede to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, especially those
that possess the material and technical resources for
creating nuclear weapons or may reach that level relatively
soon.
167. So far, however, limitation of the arms race has only
just begun. Further and more resolute measures are
required, because the arms race has not been halted; on the
contrary, its spiral threatens to shoot up ever higher. For
some time now not only the distances between stars but
also the size of the military expenditures of States have
been measured in astronomical figures. More than $200,000
million are consumed each year in the furnace of war
preparations. But imagine the figures that will have to be
used in the forthcoming decade, and their impact on the
life of the peoples, if the competition between ballistic and
anti-ballistic missiles which is being urged by certain forces
in the Western countries is unleashed.
168. Neither the Soviet Union nor the socialist States are
responsible for the beginning of the nuclear arms race a
quarter of a century ago. Nor are we responsible for its
continuation. From our side proposals were consistently
put forward for real measures to stop that race and for
disarmament measures, going so far as general and complete
disarmament. This is still our country’s policy today.
169. The Soviet Government, as is well known, has
already clarified its position on so-called strategic armaments,
and that position remains valid. We attach great
importance to action designed to check the strategic arms
race; although according to our observations the number of
opponents of such action has by no means decreased.
Restraint of the strategic arms race would benefit not only
those States which possess such arms but all the States of
the world, since international security would be considerably
strengthened.
170. Further urgent measures are termination of the
production of nuclear weapons; the liquidation of all
nuclear-weapon stockpiles and the use of nuclear energy
solely for peaceful purposes; prohibition of underground
tests of nuclear weapons, the creation of nuclear-free zones
in various parts of the world, and prohibition of the use of
the ocean floor for military purposes. It goes without
saying that radical steps in nuclear disarmament will be
possible only if they are carried out by all—I repeat all-the
nuclear Powers and not just by some.
171. In present-day conditions, when work is progressing
in a number of countries on the development and stockpiling
of chemical and bacteriological (biological) weapons,
the threat is arising that sooner or later mankind may fall
victim to a chemico-bacteriological war. This has been
plainly stated, in particular, by the eminent international
experts who prepared the report of the Secretary-General
of the United Nations entitled Chemical and Bacteriological
(Biological) Weapons and the Effects of their Possible Use.
172. Guided by a desire to outlaw chemical and biological
methods of warfare, the Soviet Union together with the
Polish People’s Republic, the Hungarian People’s Republic,
the Mongolian People’s Republic, the People’s Republic of
Bulgaria, the Socialist Republic of Romania and the
Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, is submitting for consideration
at the twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly of the
United Nations an item entitled “Conclusion of a
convention on the prohibition of the development, production
and stockpiling of chemical and bacteriological (biological)
weapons and on the destruction of such weapons” [A/7655],
and is presenting a draft of an appropriate international
convention. We trust that this draft, which has
been circulated to all delegations, will be considered with
all due attention. A General Assembly decision in support
of the proposed convention would represent, in our view,
an important contribution to the cause of peace and would
accord with the interests of all mankind.
173. The contemporary world, which forms a community
of States with different social systems and with different
aspirations and political directions, presents a complex,
diverse and in many respects contradictory picture.
174. We live on a planet which, although to its inhabitants
is still appears boundless, is in reality shrinking, as it were,
with the swift development of means of transport and
communication.
175. We live in a world which is stepping over the
threshold of a tremendous scientific and technological
revolution, a world which within a fantastically short time
has seen the transition from the first satellite and man’s
first space flight to the landing of men on the moon. And
yet at the same time millions of children, even in some
developed countries, have no opportunity to attend school,
and millions of old and sick people cannot obtain medical
assistance. We live in a world of unprecedented opportunities
for transforming nature, creating material wealth and
increasing man’s creative abilities, but in one where at the
same time the starved and the half-starved still outnumber
the well-fed, and not nearly everyone has a roof over his
head.
176. There is still a long way to go, there are still many
obstacles and dangers to be overcome, before the peoples
can say that peace has become stable on earth and there is
no more threat of war. The pessimists refuse to believe that
one day mankind will attain such conditions of existence.
But we do not share such views. More than that, we
consider that they serve only those who would like to
disarm the peoples in their fight for peace, freedom and
universal security in order that they may impose their will
on them.
177. The Soviet Union and other socialist States firmly
believe that a consistent policy of peace, a wide pooling of
resources in the interests of preventing war and strengthening
international security, and decisive joint action in this
direction will produce substantial positive results. But this
demands the clear expression by States of their goodwill to
co-operate in the interests of peace; it requires readiness of
all States for collective peaceful action.
178. The Soviet Union is ready as before to co-operate in
this way; it will continue to make its contribution to the
fulfilment of the lofty purposes of the United Nations. The
Soviet Government calls upon the Governments of all
States Members of the United Nations to make the
twenty-fourth session of the General Assembly an important
step towards the attainment of these lofty purposes.