Check against delivery

 

Statement by 

H.E. Permanent Representative of Ukraine

Ambassador Dr. Andrii Melnyk. LL.M.

 at the High-level Plenary Meeting to Commemorate and Promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons

(29 September 2026, New York)

 

Mr. President,

For decades, international efforts have brought tangible progress towards a world free of nuclear weapons.

Nuclear arsenals were reduced from their Cold War peaks, while arms control and non-proliferation frameworks were strengthened.

Let me remind the UN member states that Ukraine has made a unique contribution to global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime by joining the NPT as a non-nuclear-weapon State.

Let me recall that it was Ukraine that made a choice unprecedented in history:

We voluntarily surrendered the third-largest nuclear arsenal in the world, inherited from the Soviet Union.

Let me also remind you that in return, Ukraine received security assurances from nuclear-weapon States, including Russia.

They reaffirmed their commitment to respect Ukraine’s independence, sovereignty and existing borders, and their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against Ukraine.

Tragically, all those commitments were not honored.

Many Ukrainians are convinced that, had our government not given up these nuclear weapons, Russia would never have dared to attack Ukraine. And perhaps they are right.

Russia not only blatantly violated all its international legal obligations and launched a treacherous and barbaric, unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine.

Over the past years, we have also heard repeated, explicit threats to use nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

Let me mention just one example. On July 30, 2023, Mr. Medvedev stated, and I quote:

“Imagine if the offensive [of Ukraine] was a success, we would be forced to use a nuclear weapon” End quote

So, it is precisely the failure of the international community to respond forcefully to these blatant violations that has become the greatest challenge to the nuclear non-proliferation

Russia is trampling on the UN Charter every single day, with its soldiers’ boots on Ukrainian soil and with daily ballistic and drone strikes against schools and hospital.

And this failure to respond decisively has seriously undermined the very credibility of the non-proliferation regime itself.

No wonder why much of the hard-won progress in nuclear disarmament is being eroded before our eyes.

Nuclear arsenals are being modernized and expanded, threats of nuclear weapons use are becoming more explicit.

The international community must send an unequivocal message to Moscow: this is unacceptable and must cease immediately.

To conclude, Mr. President,

We can only restore trust in nuclear disarmament if international community, the Security Council would force Russia to stop its barbaric war of aggression against Ukraine.

We can only reestablish credibility of non-proliferation regime once a comprehensive, just and lasting peace is achieved and Ukraine is provided with iron clad legally binding security guarantees.

Thank you.