UN General Assembly Advances Disarmament and Weapons Control with Over 60 Resolutions
The United Nations General Assembly’s First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) concluded its session adopting over 60 resolutions and decisions focused on global peace and security.Key areas addressed included nuclear disarmament, autonomous weapons systems, landmines, and other conventional weapons. Several resolutions passed with significant majorities, while others highlighted divisions among member states.
A resolution titled “building a common roadmap towards a world without nuclear weapons” (A/C.1/80/L.4) was adopted with 147 votes in favor, 5 against (China, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Iran, nicaragua, Russian Federation), and 26 abstentions. The Assembly urged all nations, particularly those possessing nuclear weapons, to prevent their use and pursue complete elimination, while also discouraging provocative language. it further called on nuclear-weapon states to uphold existing negative security assurances, pledging not to use or threaten the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Regarding emerging technologies, the resolution on “Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems” (A/C.1/80/L.41) passed with 164 votes in favor, 6 against (Belarus, Burundi, Democratic People’s Republic of korea, Israel, Russian Federation, United States), and 7 abstentions (Argentina, China, Iran, Nicaragua, Poland, Saudi arabia, Türkiye). This text emphasized the need for a comprehensive, multilateral approach to address the challenges posed by autonomous weapons, considering legal, technological, ethical, humanitarian, and security aspects. It encouraged further dialog among states and urged progress within the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons framework towards developing an instrument for future negotiations.
The Assembly also reaffirmed support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adopting a resolution (A/C.1/80/L.18) with 119 votes in favor, 45 against, and 12 abstentions. the resolution acknowledged that 95 states had signed the treaty and 74 had become parties as of October 10, 2025, and called on remaining states to join the treaty as soon as possible.
a resolution promoting the implementation of the Convention on the Prohibition of the Use, Stockpiling, Production and transfer of Anti-Personnel Mines and on Their Destruction (A/C.1/80/L.30) was adopted by 159 votes in favor, 1 against (Russian Federation), and 19 abstentions, amid concerns about potential withdrawals from the convention.The Assembly invited non-party states to join the Convention and stressed the importance of full implementation and compliance, including ongoing action plans.
Complete live blog coverage of the meeting is available at https://press.un.org/en/live.
