Opening the meeting, the Head of State greeted António Guterres, the UN Secretary General, Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland and all the heads of the delegations of the UNSC member-states.
- I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Andrzej Duda, President of the Republic of Poland and Ministers present here for their kind agreement to participate and speak at our thematic briefing.
Using this opportunity, I congratulate President Duda on commencement of non-permanent membership of Poland in UNSC. I also congratulate Cote d'Ivoire, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Peru and Equatorial Guinea on this year’s commencement of non-permanent UNSC memberships. I hope for our fruitful cooperation and interaction in the framework of this critical body of the Global organization, said the President of Kazakhstan.
According to the approved agenda, Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the floor to the UN Secretary General. At the end of Mr. Guterres’ speech, the Head of State addressed the Council members.
- We consider Kazakhstan’s election as a non-permanent member and today’s presidency in the UN Security Council as a sign of confidence of the international community in our country and our peaceful policy. As the first state from Central Asia, we have become the voice of the countries of our region in this noble mission of this important body of the Global Organization. A year has passed since Kazakhstan started its service in the UNSC. We have strived to be constructive and fair in tackling pressing issues in the Agenda of the Council. In chairing committees for Afghanistan/Taliban, ISIS/DAISH, Al Qaida and Somalia/Eritrea we have been making our contribution to their productive proceedings. I am grateful to all Council member-states for their strong solidarity, the Head of State said.
The President of Kazakhstan stressed that confidence-building measures aimed at achieving the goals of peace and security play key role in conflict prevention and resolving critical global problems.
- I have put forward the proposal to establish the regional structure for security and confidence-building measures in Asia at the 47th session of UN General Assembly. This mechanism was created as a result of thorough diplomatic action. Presently CICA is successfully bringing together 26 states of the region. Quarter of a century later I speak again in the UN on behalf of Kazakhstan as a non-permanent member of the Security Council, said Nursultan Nazarbayev.
The Kazakh leader pointed to the need to maintain confidence measures in the agenda and named a number of factors contributing to that. The President of Kazakhstan stressed the need for profound mental changes and new multilateral political decisions on strengthening the non-proliferation regime based on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
In this regard, Nursultan Nazarbayev proposed a number of measures aimed at strengthening confidence in the sphere of non-proliferation.
At the end of the speech, the Head of State put emphasis on establishing mutual understanding and mutual trust between the world's nuclear powers for the effective resolution of conflicts.
- The world community is a single body, strong in its diversity and pluralism that can survive and strive when there is balance and harmony between the nations and people living on this planet. Here is why we have to jointly strive for a safer world and a world order with more fairness based on rule of law. Undoubtedly, the UN Security Council has a special role and historical mission in this matter, the President of Kazakhstan said.
During the session, Andrzej Duda, the President of Poland, Sheikh Sabah Khaled Al-Sabah, Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kuwait and Sergey Lavrov, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation have also addressed the Council.
