test run is made. Although it is difficult to estimate a suitable length of time for a test run, at least one or two months will be needed to acquire significant experience.

Statement by the Soviet Representative (Roshchin) to the Conference of the Committee on Disarmament, April 22, 19761

During the spring session of the Committee on Disarmament, a broad range of problems relating to the limitation of armaments and disarmaments were considered. At official and informal meetings of the Committee, comprehensive discussions were held on important questions relating to the cessation of the arms race and the elimination of the danger of the use of the most destructive and devastating means of warfare in military conflicts.

The Soviet Union attaches great importance to the solution of disarmament problems and especially to the cessation of the arms race in respect of weapons of mass destruction and annihilation. The Twenty-fifth Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, held in February-March of this year, presented a broad programme for the continuation of the struggle for peace and international cooperation, providing for the development of efforts aimed at the implementation of a considerable number of specific measures in this field. The disarmament programme approved by the Congress and contained in the report of the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Mr. L. I. Brezhnev, provides for the implementation of a whole series of measures aimed at the limitation of armaments and the prohibition of new types of weapons of mass destruction. These measures relate, inter alia, to the prohibition and destruction of chemical weapons, prohibition of the development of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction, and the prohibition of action to influence the environment for military and other hostile purposes. These matters were also the subject of discussion at the spring session of the Committee on Disarmament. In my statement today, I intend to comment on some of the questions discussed.

3

I should like first of all, to refer to the draft agreement proposed by the Soviet Union on the prohibition of the development and manufacture of new types of weapons of mass destruction and new systems of such weapons. As we have already pointed out, the Soviet Union has raised this question for the purpose of preventing the emergence of new types and systems of such weapons, including those utilizing the latest discoveries of modern science and technology. In accordance with the decision of the United Nations General Assembly at its thirtieth session, the text of the draft agreement on this question should be

worked out and approved by the Committee on Disarmament, with the assistance of qualified governmental experts.*

The Soviet side has taken a most active part in the Committee's consideration of this question. On its initiative a number of informal meetings of the Committee have been held, with the participation of experts, on the problem of the prohibition of these types of weapons of mass destruction. At the informal meetings of the Committee, the Soviet experts Academician A. V. Fokin and Colonel B. T. Surikov made important and useful comments on the problem under consideration, particularly with regard to the definition of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction. They pointed out that, proceeding from general scientific considerations, the prohibition should apply to new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction which are based on physical, chemical and biological principles other than those of any of the types and systems of such weapons in existence at the time of the entry into force of the proposed agreement.

The Soviet side considers that the actual definition of new types of weapons of mass destruction could be worked out only through the joint efforts of many States, and above all those which are the most developed from the scientific and technical standpoint, interested in the prohibition of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction. The approaches proposed by Soviet experts for the solution of the problem in question, together with the list of certain new types of such weapons, constitute a constructive contribution by the Soviet side to the formulation of the most important provisions of the agreement on the problem under consideration.

The Soviet experts sought to define the basic characteristics of the new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction, and proposed for consideration the following preliminary version of such a definition:

New types and systems of weapons of mass destruction should be understood to mean those qualitatively new material means of waging war which are or may be at the development stage and which are based on new types of action-physical, chemical, biological and other action-designed to bring about destruction or devastation. Moreover, new types of weapons of mass destruction would be those whose use might lead to the mass annihilation of military personnel and the civilian population as a result of their pernicious effects on human beings both within and far beyond the area of use of such weapons, and both at the time when they are used and for a long time afterwards. New types of weapons of mass destruction would be those which, in their effectiveness, are comparable with existing types of weapons of mass destruction or even surpass them.

The formulation of the definition of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction carried out at the spring session is only the beginning of the process of working out the basic provisions of

'Ibid., pp. 798-800.

the agreement under consideration. From the scientific and technical standpoint as well as from that of international law, these provisions should establish the subject of the prohibition and the content of the obligations of the parties to the proposed agreement, whose purpose is to avert the danger inherent in the use of the achievements of modern science for the creation of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction. Such types and systems of weapons may be even more destructive and devastating than existing types of weapons of mass destruction.

We express our deep gratitude to the delegations of the Hungarian People's Republic and the German Democratic Republic, whose experts took an active part in the informal meetings of the Committee. on Disarmament during the examination of the question we are considering and effectively helped to elucidate the substance and significance of the problems connected with the prohibition of new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, we cannot but express our concern at the fact that some of the most scientifically and technically developed States members of the Committee on Disarmament chose not to make a constructive contribution to the fulfilment of a great and important task, on whose solution depends the fate of all countries of the world and, as has been rightly pointed out by one of the representatives in the Committee, the survival of mankind as a whole.

The delegation of the USSR expresses the hope that the Committee will be able, during its summer session, to make progress towards the solution of the task of prohibiting new types and systems of weapons of mass destruction, and that efforts in that direction will be made by a large number of States members of the Committee, and above all by the Powers possessing the means and capability of developing and producing such weapons.

The question of prohibiting the use of environmental modification techniques for hostile purposes was discussed actively and thoroughly at the spring session of the Committee on Disarmament. The detailed consideration of this question took place at formal and informal meetings of the Committee, with the participation of experts from the USSR, the United States and the Federal Republic of Germany, as well as observers from the United Nations Environment Programme and the World Meteorological Organization.

5

Delegations which spoke on this question expressed satisfaction that the USSR and the United States had submitted an agreed draft of a convention on this problem, which was the basis for discussion in the Committee. During its consideration, a large number of delegations presented proposals, additions to and comments on the draft. The observations made by delegations on the draft convention and the proposals they put forward will be studied by the Soviet side with due attention. Our preliminary comments on the questions referred to in

'Ibid., pp. 385-388.

the discussion were set out in the statement of the USSR delegation in the Committee on 30 March 1976.6

With regard to the great interest shown by members of the Committee in the provisions of the draft convention relating to the scope of prohibition and the procedure for examining complaints in cases of violation of the convention, we should like to point out that these provisions were carefully considered by the co-sponsors of the draft during the process of drawing up an agreed text. Through their interrelationship they constitute a balanced set of solutions to complex questions concerning an extremely important problem-that of prohibiting environmental modification for hostile purposes at the international level.

We hope that, during the forthcoming summer session, it will be possible to reach agreement on the questions raised during the discussion. In this connexion, we should again like to refer to the request of the General Assembly for an early agreement if possible in 1976, on the text of a convention on the prohibition of environmental modification techniques for hostile purposes."

11

At the present session of the Committee on Disarmament, considerable interest was expressed in the problem of prohibiting chemical weapons. We listened with interest to statements made on this question by the delegations of the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan,10 Poland, Hungary,12 Sweden,13 and others. The representative of the Federal Republic of Germany proposed that informal meetings of the Committee should be held in July this year on this problem, with the participation of experts. The delegation of the USSR supported that proposal.

The Soviet Union is in favour of the rapid accomplishment of the task of prohibiting the development, production, and stockpiling of chemical weapons and of their destruction. To this end, the USSR, together with other socialist countries, submitted a draft convention for the Committee's consideration as far back as 1972. This draft was thoroughly explained and argued by its co-sponsors for a number of years. Since then, a great many discussions and technological studies of the problem of controlling such a ban have taken place. The socialist countries, the co-sponsors of this draft convention, proposed a detailed system of control entailing the use of many forms and methods of observation and verification of the fulfilment, by parties to the convention, of the obligations which they would assume concerning the prohibition of chemical means of warfare. This system, which is described

in the draft convention and in the working paper of socialist countries of 28 June 1973 (CCD/403), provides for:

-the establishment of national control committees to supervise the cessation of production of chemical weapons and the means of delivering them, and the destruction of stockpiles of such weapons;

-the exchange of information on questions relating to the implementation of the obligations provided for by the convention;

-the use of statistical and other methods of analysing materials relating to the cessation of production of chemical weapons and the destruction of stocks of such weapons;

-the adoption by parties to the convention of specific legislative measures aimed at prohibiting chemical means of warfare, and particularly the prohibition of the patenting of such means of warfare; -co-operation and consultation among States in the consideration of controversial and doubtful situations relating to the implementation of the convention;

-consideration by the United Nations Security Council of complaints regarding violations of the convention, etc.15

During the discussion of questions of control over the prohibition of chemical weapons, delegations also suggested other types and forms of control which deserve attention (observation by instruments, water, soil and atmospheric analyses, etc.), which could supplement the forms and methods of verification mentioned above.

We consider that all possible measures should be taken to activate the work of the Committee on Disarmament in the direction of considering and reaching agreement on a draft convention on the prohibition of the development, production and stockpiling of chemical weapons and on their destruction. For its part, the USSR will take an active part in this process. At the same time, the Soviet Union is prepared to continue its co-operation towards the achievement of a Soviet-United States declaration concerning a joint initiative on the prohibition of the most lethal chemical means of warfare.

We do not think that it is possible in today's statement to express our views on the position of the USSR concerning questions referred to in the discussion relating to the prohibition of chemical weapons. We expect to do this during the Committee's summer session, after having studied the statements of delegations on these questions with due attention. We express the hope that substantial progress will be made towards the positive solution in the interest of all States of the problem at issue as a result of its consideration at the Committee's summer session.

Considerable attention has been devoted by delegations at the spring session of the Committee on Disarmament to questions connected with the reduction of the threat of nuclear war. It was emphasized that the fate of all peoples of the world depends on the solution of these problems. In this context, the Soviet Union presented a proposal for 15 Ibid., 1973, pp. 344–346.