Distinguished colleagues! Honorable Dr Tedros! On behalf of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and on my own behalf, I am pleased to welcome you today. The event takes place in the context of an ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. All countries and international associations contribute to the global effort to fight it. At this difficult time, I express my gratitude to the medical community for the efforts made to fight the new coronavirus infection and other infectious diseases. One of them is tuberculosis, which annually claims about 1.5 million lives.

Excellencies, Special Rapporteur, Children’s Rights Commissioner, Dear Participants, Thank you for your interest in the today’s discussion. I am honoured to open this side event which is organized by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, the Bulan Institute for Peace Innovations in Geneva and the Permanent Mission of the Russian Federation to the United Nations in Geneva.

Mr. President, Colleagues, I appreciate the opportunity to address this authoritative forum. 2020 was a difficult year in all respects. It saw a growing destructive trend toward the collapse of the existing international arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation regimes, an increasing tension and lack of trust between UN Member States. Unfortunately, the United States continued taking steps to substitute some global "rules-based order" imposed by Washington for international law and the central role of the United Nations. After withdrawing from the JCPOA in 2018 and dismantling the INF Treaty in 2019, the United States decided, in 2020, to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, thereby undermining international security.

Madam President, Ladies and Gentlemen, This year, Russia is participating again in the work of the United Nations Human Rights Council as a full member. We regard our return to the main human rights body of the global Organization as confirmation of our country’s key role in all the areas of multilateral cooperation. We intend to make active use of our mandate in the Human Rights Council in order to strengthen its capacity and authority, as well as to advance a unifying agenda.

During these days the entire world remembers and pays tribute to the victims of the Holocaust. 76 years ago, at a tragic cost the Red Army liberated Auschwitz, Nazism's most horrific extermination camp. Humanity finally realized the horrendous nature of the Nazi regime and of its crimes committed under the pretext of racial superiority. The Holocaust has become one of the most tragic pages in the history of mankind. Today we mourn the millions who were tortured, humiliated and brutally killed, who experienced the horrors of concentration camps and ghettos. Jews were the main victim of Nazi hatred. But we must remember that the Nazis intended the same fate for many other peoples, including Russians, Belarusians, Ukrainians and other nations of the Soviet Union, as well as Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Roma and Sinti.

Mr. Chairman, Colleagues, The military and political situation in the world continues to deteriorate. We are particularly concerned by the developments in Europe. The official anti-Russian policy of the North Atlantic Alliance "erodes" the original foundation on which European security regimes and instruments were built and functioned. Thousands of NATO military appear on a so-called "continuous rotational basis" where they have never been – near Russia's borders.

Mr. Chairman, Colleagues, Being among of the most active Parties to the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (CCW) Russia stands for further strengthening of its regime, above all, via universalization of the Convention and its Protocols as well as full implementation of their provisions.

Mr Chairman, Outer space is the common heritage of humankind. In this regard the objective for the world community is to ensure the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, for the benefit and in the interest of all countries. Guided by that very understanding as of back to 1978, the first UNGA Special session on disarmament determined the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS) and the launch of relevant negotiations in accordance with a spirit of the 1967 Outer Space Treaty as one of the key disarmament measures. The said objectives have been annually reaffirmed by the UNGA resolution on PAROS permanently supported and co-sponsored by the Russian Federation.

Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, The Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on Their Destruction (CWC) is now in its third decade as one of the most important elements within the international system of disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. It addresses two key issues: the elimination of an entire class of weapons of this kind and the establishment of firm barriers against the production, use, and proliferation of chemical weapons.

Distinguished Mr. Chairman, Distinguished colleagues, The promotion of international efforts aimed at achieving a world free of nuclear weapons as soon as possible is one of priorities of Russian foreign policy. The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), whose fiftieth anniversary since its entry into force we have celebrated this year, is fundamental for achieving this goal.