Action 6 - NPT Monitor

China

What has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle 2022–2026)?

China has expressed support in line with Action 6, but such support has been explicitly conditioned on the adoption of a comprehensive and balanced programme of work, encompassing not only nuclear disarmament but also parallel priorities such as the prevention of an arms race in outer space and negative security assurances. In practice, China has participated in and praised the work of Subsidiary Body 1 on nuclear disarmament following the partial revitalization of the CD since 2018.

What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle 2022–2026?

Maintaining the above-mentioned stance, in its 2026 NPT national report, China has again stated its support for the CD to commence substantive work on nuclear disarmament, security assurances, FMCT and prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS).

Sources

Implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons–Report submitted by the People’s Republic of China, NPT/CONF.2015/32, 17 April 2015

Implementation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in the People’s Republic of China, NPT/CONF.2020/41, 28 January 2022

White Paper: China’s Arms Control, Disarmament, and Nonproliferation in the New Era, State Council Information Office, November 27, 2025

Statement on Nuclear Disarmament by Sun Xiaobo, Director-General of the Department of Arms Control of the Foreign Ministry of China, at the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 NPT Review Conference, May 2, 2025

Note Verbale dated 16 September 2022 from the Permanent Mission of the People’s Republic of China to the United Nations Office at Geneva transmitting the remarks by H. E. Ambassador LI Song at the First Plenary Meeting of the 2022 Session of the Conference on Disarmament, 5 October 2022

France

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What has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle 2022–2026)?

France expressed its support for the creation of subsidiary bodies, including one to deal with nuclear disarmament, in 2022.

What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle 2022–2026?

France expressed its support for the adoption of a programme of work for the Conference on Disarmament in 2024 (renewed in 2025) and the creation of subsidiary bodies, including one to deal with nuclear disarmament, in 2024 and 2025.

Sources

Statement by France. Conference on Disarmament – Statement by Ambassador Yann Hwang on subsidiary bodies (Geneva), 9 March 2022. https://cd-geneve.delegfrance.org/Conference-on-Disarmament-Statement-by-Ambassador-Yann-HWANG-on-subsidiary

Statement by France. Conference on Disarmement – Subsidiary organ 1 [disarmament] – Statement by the Ambassador M. Yann Hwang (Geneva), 15 March 2022. https://cd-geneve.delegfrance.org/Conference-on-Disarmement-Subsidiary-organ-1-disarmament-Statement-by-the

Statement by France. Conference on disarmament – Statement by Ambassador Camille Petit on the adoption of a programme of work for the Conference (Geneva), 13 June 2024. https://cd-geneve.delegfrance.org/Conference-on-disarmament-Statement-by-Ambassador-Camille-PETIT-on-the-adoption

Statement by France. Conference on Disarmament – Statement by Ambassador Camille Petit on the cessation of the nuclear arms race (Geneva), 25 June 2024. https://cd-geneve.delegfrance.org/Conference-on-Disarmament-Statement-by-Ambassador-Camille-Petit-on-the-2346

Statement by France. Conference on Disarmament – Second statement by Ambassador Camille Petit in Subsidiary Body 1 [Nuclear Disarmament] (Geneva), 11 March 2025. https://cd-geneve.delegfrance.org/Conference-on-Disarmament-Statement-by-Ambassador-Camille-Petit-in-Subsidiary

Russia

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What has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle 2022–2026)?

Russia expressed its support for the creation of subsidiary bodies, including one to deal with nuclear disarmament, in 2018 and in 2022.

What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle 2022–2026?

Russia expressed its support for the creation of subsidiary bodies, including one to deal with nuclear disarmament, in 2024 and 2025.

In 2026 Russia stated that it considers it counterproductive to adopt a decision on the re-establishment of subsidiary bodies, including one to deal with nuclear disarmament, and instead called for negotiating a more focused and ambitious mandate for each subsidiary body.

Sources

Statement by the Russian Federation. Plenary meeting. Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), 28 February 2018.

https://mid.ru/de/foreign_policy/news/1564914/?lang=en

Statement by the Russian Federation. Plenary meeting. Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), 22 February 2022.

https://geneva.mid.ru/en/activities/news/28-02-2022_statement-ma_94912087a65c1a566063847165c87afb/

Statement by the Russian Federation. Plenary meeting. Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), 23 January 2024

https://docs-library.unoda.org/Conference_on_Disarmament_-_(2024)/Statement_of_the_Russian_PR_23-01-2024_ENG.pdf

Statement by the Russian Federation. Plenary meeting. Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), 23 January 2025.

https://mid.ru/en/foreign_policy/international_safety/disarmament/1992770/

Statement by the Russian Federation. Plenary meeting. Conference on Disarmament (Geneva), 3 February 2026.

https://geneva.mid.ru/en/activities/news/statement_by_a_russian_representative_at_the_plenary_session_of_the_conference_on_disarmament/

United Kingdom

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What has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle 2022–2026)?

In 2016 the United Kingdom submitted a draft proposal for a programme of work and to establish an associated working group, including provisions for fissile material cut-off treaty issues. The UK stated that following the creation of five Subsidiary Bodies in 2018, four of which adopted reports by consensus, the United Kingdom, as President of the Conference on Disarmament, tabled a draft decision in March 2019 that would have taken forward this work and helped move the Conference on Disarmament closer to developing negotiating mandates on its four core agenda items. The UK stated that the decision had strong support from across the membership but was blocked by a small number of States.

What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle 2022–2026?

In January 2025, the UK joined a consensus decision (CD/2443) to re-establish Subsidiary Body 1, which is specifically mandated to address the ‘Cessation of the nuclear arms race and nuclear disarmament’. In high-level statements, the UK has urged all members to "re-establish the subsidiary bodies as soon as possible" to break long-standing deadlocks in the Conference. In its national report to the 2026 NPT Review Conference the UK said it “continues to advocate for an agreed, comprehensive and balanced Programme of Work within the Conference on Disarmament. Absent this, we have consistently called for the establishment of Subsidiary Bodies to advance substantive work on all agenda items of the Conference, including nuclear disarmament.”

The UK states in its statements to te CD that it supports progress through consensus-based programmes of work and that nuclear disarmament should be addressed alongside other agenda items.

Sources

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (2021). UK national report pursuant to Actions 5, 20 and 21 of the NPT Review Conference 2010, for the 10th NPT Review Conference. 1 November. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/treaty-on-the-non-proliferation-of-nuclear-weapons-uk-national-report-for-the-10th-review-conference

Conference on Disarmament (2025). Decision on the Work of the Conference on Disarmament for 2025. Adopted at the 1740th plenary meeting on 30 January. <https://docs-library.unoda.org/Conference_on_Disarmament_-_%282025%29/CD.2443_%28Advance_copy%29.pdf>

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (2026). National report of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland pursuant to actions 5, 20 and 21 of the action plan of the 2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons for the tenth Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty. <https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69df600a53469bbcdf408e8b/UK-National-Report-11th-Treaty-on-the-Non-Proliferation-of-Nuclear-Weapons-NPT-Review-Conference.pdf>

Foreign and Commonwealth Office (2021). UK Permanent Representative to the Conference on Disarmament, statement at the Conference on Disarmament, 21 January. <https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/conference-on-disarmament-2021-session-uk-statement>.

United States

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What has the NWS done so far (prior to the current Review Cycle 2022–2026)?

The United States has historically resisted including nuclear disarmament as an appropriate topic for formal treaty negotiation within the Conference on Disarmament (CD). Instead, it has prioritized negotiations for a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty (FMCT). However, the extreme application of the CD’s consensus-based rules of procedure has provided each member state with a de facto veto over the process.

In March 2018, the Conference on Disarmament decided on a substantive programme of work, and established subsidiary bodies on several core issues: (1) cessation of the arms race and nuclear disarmament; (2) prevention of nuclear war; (3) prevention of an arms race in outer space; and (4) assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states against the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons; however, the mandates for these bodies need to be renewed each year, and thus work once again stalled when that did not take place the following year.

What is the NWS doing on this action in the current Review Cycle 2022–2026?

During the Biden administration, the United States proposed several measures to reduce the gridlock within the Conference on Disarmament. For example, given that the necessity of renewing the subsidiary bodies’ mandates each year has historically led to a lack of progress, in 2023 the U.S. delegation to the Conference on Disarmament submitted a “food for thought” paper proposing the automatic carrying over of a Programme of Work and observer statuses on an annual basis, rather than starting from zero each successive year. These proposed reforms, however, have not yet been adopted.

Sources

U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva. "United Nations General Assembly First Committee." Statement by the U.S. Delegation. October 6, 2010. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2010/10/06/unga-first-committee/.

U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva. "The Obama Administration's Second Term Priorities for Arms Control and Nonproliferation." Remarks to the Conference on Disarmament. March 20, 2013. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2013/03/20/the-obama-administrations-second-term-priorities-for-arms-control-and-nonproliferation/.

Conference on Disarmament. Decision. CD/2119. February 16, 2018. https://docs.un.org/en/cd/2119.

U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva. “U.S. Ambassador Bruce Turner’s Remarks to the Conference on Disarmament on Revitalization.” June 20, 2023. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2023/06/20/u-s-ambassador-bruce-turners-remarks-to-the-conference-on-disarmament-on-revitalization/.

U.S. Mission to International Organizations in Geneva. “U.S. Ambassador Bruce Turner’s Remarks to the Conference on Disarmament on the Program of Work Decision.” March 16, 2023. https://geneva.usmission.gov/2023/03/16/u-s-ambassador-bruce-turners-remarks-to-the-conference-on-disarmament-on-the-program-of-work-decision/.