 video conference on non-preferential nuclear disarmament. Welcome to everyone. I'm very thrilled to have such an impressive panel. I'm also very excited to have other friends, researchers, colleagues, experts, most importantly young generation, young people from Palestine and the United Kingdom joining us at this webinar to discuss this very important topic. We have of course been all influenced by the pandemic in different ways, but definitely there are certain advantages in having this experience of having the video events, otherwise it will be extremely difficult to imagine to physically gather all these distinguished panelists and experts. We have keynote speakers, panelists, the Erzhan Ashikbaev from Kazakhstan. We have our great friend, Lassino Ezerbo, executive secretary. He was recently awarded a special Distinguished Prize last year together with Yuki Amano. He was awarded by a special nuclear disarmament prize of the President of Kazakhstan. We have Ambassador Aydan Lidl. Ambassador, I wonder whether you know that Aydan is a very Kazakh name. So I'm very happy that you have this great Kazakh name. He's joining us. Ambassador is the permanent representative of the United Kingdom to the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. He's joining us from Geneva. Unfortunately, Cardinal Peter Turksen couldn't join us today, but he is being held by one of his colleagues from Vatican. Let me greet the Lord Hanayev Chizik, a distinguished politician, a figure known throughout the world. He has an extensive career in diplomacy. We have Kate Hudson, Secretary-General of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, joining us from London. Kate, hello. My old friend, a good friend, Vladimir Skolnik, a nuclear physicist, a longest-serving minister in the government of Kazakhstan. He actually, it's easier to name the ministers he didn't have during his impressive career. He is now the chairman of the Kazakhstan-Pagos Movement Committee, and of course, we have Peter Jenkins, our friend from the Pagos group of the United Kingdom. Let me once again welcome everyone to this important video event, a few organizational matters. Two keynote speakers, Deputy Minister and Vasilyev will have 10 minutes each for their remarks. Other panelists will have seven minutes for their remarks. At the end of presentations, we'll have a question and answer session, which will be moderated by my good friend Dr. Plesh, who is very generously giving his time to join us here in the embassy. We are sitting in the embassy and I'm very happy that we have this hybrid type of video event. We feel we physically here in London together with Dr. Plesh. I want to tell that we have the live stream on our embassy's Facebook. So without much ado, let me tell that pandemic of course has caused lots of changes in our lives. It has caused serious impacts on the political systems in different countries of the world, but more importantly, it is also putting to test the multilateral system, international relations system. Some see the elements or signs of fragmentation in the world, but we do want to hope that pandemic and all the challenges it carries will encourage all of us to enhance on the country our joint efforts to maintain peace and make the world much safer to live in. Of course, nuclear disarmament is one of the biggest challenges on global agenda. Therefore, we are happy to have this event. This event is dedicated to the International Day Against Nuclear Tests announced by the United Nations and at the same time, we celebrate today the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Since we have some limits on our time, I wanted to go straight into business. Before we go into business, I'd like to give the floor for introduction to Dr. Plesz. Then we'll have a short video and then we'll start our video event. Thank you so much, Your Excellency. It's a great honour and pleasure to be working with you here today. We've worked successfully with the Governor of Kazakhstan for some years. Here we are just back from holiday, some of us, or just emerging from isolation. In the last century, late August, September was quite a good time for starting World War, so perhaps we can have a little counter-dynamic to assist world peace by getting together in early September. I think our motivation for wanting to work together and organise this today rather than in some months' time was a sense of real urgency, that even before the impact of COVID, the global situation with the sort of nuclear damocles hanging over us had become extraordinarily dangerous and in bullet points, as many of us I think are aware, that the lessons learned at such great cost in two World Wars, resulting in the creation of the United Nations and international system and arms control, had more or less willfully been thrown away in the last decade or two, creating a situation far too like that of the late 19th century for anyone's comfort, and that in that context we see rising international rivalry between members of the Security Council, we saw the still unresolved economic dislocation of the financial crash, the accelerating dislocations and disasters of climate change, and into this witches' broom, we now have this further spice, if you like, evil spice of COVID. And I fear that the unfolding medical, social, political impact of that is just even now gathering momentum, not something which we're looking towards the end of, but which we are, if not in the overture, perhaps into the first section of a gruesome symphony that is evolving and the impact of this on security, with almost no efforts at control in the field of armaments and particularly nuclear armaments, is, I think, frankly, moving us into what can now be called a pre-war situation, and what do we have to do in that to change the dynamics, and that is partly what we're about today. It's what we work at in our organization with a number of partners, with the Vatican and others, to think about a strategic concept for removing weapons of all kinds, not just nuclear, which is, of course, a key priority, and to think, well, on the verification side, what can we do in the age of Google Earth, weapons transparency and security through confidence-building measures should be much more practical to hand than it would appear to be, and that is the second of our efforts. And a number of people have supported the idea that, as the Holy Father says, now is not the time to be producing more weapons. The freeze was an idea used with some effect in the Cold War, particularly in nuclear testing. The Soviet Union, United States almost became a, had a virtuous competition of moratoria, of freezes on nuclear testing, and so partly what we suggest towards the UN Disarmament Day in October is to think again about having a freeze on weapons production and deployment, not, I think, out of more moral reasons, although it is a powerful, but really out of the sense of the necessity of survival. The idea of deterrence is one that many would say has kept the peace, others would say we have survived by luck. I would tend to the latter, to the latter view, so that is our context, I think, and to bring it back to the question, I would say it isn't so much a chance to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world, but unless we work towards that, frankly, we now have no chance that we are in a dead end of policy, a literal dead end, and working towards that goal and broader efforts of weapons control is simply a matter of personal survival, and President Kennedy was not the first or the last to say that unless we abolish war, war is going to abolish us, and the dynamics that we've seen accelerating in the last decade are indeed gruesome, and COVID is just accelerating these factors. So with that, perhaps less than diplomatic predicate, I will hand back to your Excellency, and I'm not sure if you wanted to introduce that video or bring in... Thank you, thank you for your remarks, opening remarks. Let's have a short video, and after that, Dan will introduce Deputy Pauli Minastasiq, right? people in the region were affected. Today, more than 20 children are born with deformities. The cancer rate is 50% higher here than elsewhere in the country. Many of the population die before reaching 60. Some countries such as Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Belarus and South Africa have already eliminated their nuclear weapons or abandoned their nuclear weapons programs. Through the decisions of this president, Nazarbayev, Kazakhstan has also shut down the infamous semi-pilotist nuclear test site. Yet other countries could have done much more to help create a nuclear safe world. The United Nations is working to build national and global security without nuclear weapons, establish regional nuclear weapons free zones, put an end to testing and ultimately free the world of its nuclear arsenal. One of the most concrete steps to order cheapness goal would be pushing through the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. Existence and availability of weapons create fissile material in nuclear states such as North Korea, as well as the appeal of nuclear devices as the ultimate weapon, increase the risk of global nuclear terrorism. If we stop nuclear weapons testing and secure all fissile material, then we also substantially reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism. Thank you very much for that sobering note. So it's my great pleasure to introduce the minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan, Mr. Yerzan Ashik Bayev. I must say by way of introduction that our relationship with the Kazakhstan goes back to the time when our president, Tekayev, was in his role as Secretary General of the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva and spoke out as a very early supporter of our project. So we're very happy to continue our relationship and I'd now like to hand over to the microphone to the minister. Thank you. Right Honorable Lord Hanin of Chiswick, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen. Well, it's my great honor to join all of you to mark the International Day against Nuclear Test and the 75th anniversary of the United Nations. Unfortunately, our digital meeting is taking place in an extraordinary circumstances. The human toll from the disease has been terrific. Horrific how our countries has been badly hit by this pandemic and I would like to express my deep condolences to the families and friends of those who left this world and wish a speedy recovery to those who are still fighting this disease. And let me also express our sincere gratitude to Dr. Plesh for hosting this event in partnership with Ambassador Idrisov and the Embassy of Kazakhstan. And of course, I'm happy to welcome all the panelists and look forward to very lively discussions. 2020 meant to be a special year, the year of 75th anniversary of the United Nations and 50th anniversary of the NPT's entry into force. Also this year we mark the 35th anniversary of the Reagan-Gorbachev principle who jointly articulated at the 1985 summit a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought. And it is symbolic that the current pandemic of COVID-19 had obscured an issue of nuclear disarmament and threatens our collective developmental gains in this field. The COVID-19 pandemic has increased the threat to global cooperation and enabled certain actors to utilize blame game and witch hand tactics. It also marked a new round of collision between globalism and nationalism by introducing an outdated culture of every man for himself into global politics. The situation in the field of disarmament is critical. Unfortunately, the gap between the nuclear and non-nuclear communities is becoming increasingly wider. And we should definitely bring political trust and the systemic dialogue back to the international affairs. And we should recognize that ultimately it's nuclear powers that bear the highest responsibility to save the humanity from the global catastrophe. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the first and hopefully the only use of a nuclear weapon in a war. Though the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks ended the World War II, they also set off a nuclear arms race. And we are now witnessing the science of a second arms race. And the rhetorical question arises, has the world become a safer place to live? Well, today's coronavirus tests international relations force strength both at the level of individual countries and multilateral organizations. This is a reminder of fragility of our world. In this regard, we wholeheartedly welcome the recent talks between the US and Russia in Vienna taking place in these current difficult circumstances. We hope the negotiations will help restore bilateral dialogue and at least lead to the soonest extension of the new START Treaty for the full five years. The issues of nuclear disarmament and arms control are closely intertwined with the history of my nation, Kazakhstan. Well, more than 2,000 nuclear tests were carried out worldwide and well over 450 plus of them were carried out on the territory of Kazakhstan. So, the closure of the semi-Politans nuclear test site in August 29, 1991, by the decision of the first president, Nusultan Azerbaijan of Kazakhstan, driven by the overwhelming support of the wider Kazakh public, played a pivotal role in the process of stalling nuclear tests and paved the way for a new global norm back in testing with the approval of the CTBT in 1996. By voluntarily and completely renouncing its nuclear weapons arsenal, the fourth largest in the world at the time. In addition to closing the polygon, Kazakhstan showed the whole world an example of a responsible and decisive approach to preserving peace and humanity. Over the years, there have been calls to ban nuclear tests to ensure the protection of people's lives and environments around them. The CTBT was adopted in response to growing political concern and public pressure on the use of nuclear testing. Regrettably, almost 25 years after its inception, the CTBT has yet to enter into force due to the absence of a number of ratifications. And I'm more than sure Dr. Zerbov, our very good friend, will definitely elaborate on that topic. The president of Kazakhstan, Kasym Jamar Tokayev, being a staunch supporter of global nuclear disarmament, has continued President Nazarbayev's anti-nuclear initiatives. In his first speech as the head of state at the UN General Assembly in 2019, he stressed that Nazarbayev's initiative to read completely the world of nuclear weapons by 2045 has already found a huge number of supporters, both among political leaders and the wider global community. Kazakhstan recently joined the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, TPNW, which in a sense represents a new reality and will be representing a new legal reality, we hope, very soon after completing 50 needed ratifications. It's been, it was a result of stagnation of the disarmament process, but Kazakhstan remains very much realistic and we also seek to work constructively with like-minded states, as well as nuclear weapon states through various initiatives, the scent initiative, the stepping stones approach, and the scram. We will continue to maintain strategic partnerships with all nuclear powers, the UK, the EU, the United States, Russian Federation, China, and good relations with all other nations around the world, which will help building bridges and closing the gaps in positions on many critical issues, including this current one. We do hope that collective actions at the international level will make possible to find a way for a nuclear weapon free world. And even though I'm personally much more pessimistic or realistic, I should say, than the speech I was written by my colleagues, nevertheless, the least we can do is to continue our efforts towards this noble goal. Otherwise, we will be hearing to yet another recommendations by the World Health Organization to wear very different type of protective, personal protective equipment should we fail to prevent a nuclear accident or nuclear war. So, it's in the best interest of everyone in the global community to achieve a nuclear weapons free world and to live in a world with at least one danger of the danger of nuclear annihilation being addressed and being solved. I thank you for your kind attention and I very much look forward to further interactions. Thank you. Yerzhan for your remarks and thank you for kicking off our discussion. Without much ado, let me give the floor to our next speaker, Dr. Lassina Jerbo, Executive Secretary of the CTBTO. As you know, he was very instrumental in cementing CTBTO's position as the world's center of excellence for nuclear test ban verification and he gives his life and all his efforts to drive forward towards the entry into force and universalization of the CTBTO. That's a huge enormous task. We all know the challenges which the organization in the whole world faces in this respect, but as the Deputy Minister Ashik Baev said, we should not stop in our perseverance of doing even little steps to bring close to the world free of nuclear weapons. Dr. Jerbo, you handle the floor. Thank you so much Ambassador Idrisov and dear friend from Kazakhstan and Excellency Deputy Minister Ashik Baev and my good friend. Welcome to this platform. Lord Hane, Excellencies, friends, I was tempted to say partners in crime because it sounds like a crime to fight for the hand of nuclear testing and prepare for the world free of nuclear weapon. But anyway, we partners in this field and then I want to thank you all for being on this platform. So it is indeed a pleasure to address this important event even if the virtual format reminds us that we have not yet reached the post-COVID era. So I wish to thank you Deputy Minister Ashik Baev along with his Excellency Ambassador Idrisov and his colleague in the Embassy of Kazakhstan for arranging this discussion. Kazakhstan, which suffered as many of you have mentioned already, so much from nuclear testing in the site at Semipalasing has taken this unfortunate legacy and transformed it into something positive and life affirming. I guess this is a way to go because Kazakhstan is basically turning something negative into positive. I think we have to do more of this especially in this time. So Kazakhstan is perhaps the country with the strongest and the most persistent track record on advocating for the end to nuclear tests. Today's discussion takes place in the context of the International Day Against Nuclear Test on 29 August, the creation of which was led by Kazakhstan that meets a global pandemic unprecedented in the modern age. The fact that we continue to mark the International Day Against Nuclear Test provide us with a stark reminder that this issue is not resolved. On a more personal note, it has been an honor for me to be received in the country on many occasions in Kazakhstan, I mean, and of course to have received from his Excellency the first president his price for the nuclear weapon free world and global security. I'm also delighted to speak at the School of Oriental and African Studies. Spass has been has done so much over the years to promote understanding and dialogue and I wish to thank Dr. Plesch for facilitating today's event which is very much within this proud tradition. We are commemorating many important anniversaries and some of you have already mentioned this this year. It is 75 years since the first time that atoms of plutonium were squeezed together with enough density and pressure to create a destructive force which before and could only be generated by nature itself. We're also 75 years from the terrible devastation unleashed on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which resulted directly from the first test. Yet that same year also saw a pivot towards peace and cooperation between nations. The bloodiest war in history came to an end and the united nation was established to provide an alternative to war and to promote social progress and fundamental human rights. But one of this year 2020 while now peoples and governments reel from the chaos and suffering caused by COVID-19 will historian also record a pivot towards cooperation and collaboration? That's the question we should ask ourselves. It is my hope that the pandemic will become a watershed moment for multilateralism. Pandemics, climate change, hunger and indeed nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament all of these are problems that reach across boundaries and require science-based shared responses. I understand if this seems too optimistic of an outlook for some but it is no secret that international relations are heavy with tension. Finding a common ground has been difficult in part due to hardening national security interests but if we are ever to advance our shared objective of the world of peace, security, prosperity, we need to invest our effort and resources in building the case for multilateralism. So what is the good news? The good news is that from climate change action to international development to arms control many of these multilateral structures already exist. The more difficult part is making sure that they stay protected and nurtured and this is exactly what's happening to the CTBT itself. But let's take the nuclear non-proliferation treaty for instance. The treaty and its system of safeguards have ensured the continued availability of nuclear power for those who wanted while reducing the risk of nuclear proliferation. Nonetheless, the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime has come under considerable stress in recent years and this is due to a perceived lack of implementation of disarmament commitment by some states. Other states remain concerned about the ability of the NPT to adapt along with evolving proliferation risks. The NPT however remains one of the most adhered to treaties and continue to provide a forum for cooperation and debate on the collective goals of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament. State parties to the NPT will meet in January for the 10th NPT review conference which will mark the 50th anniversary of its entry into force. Whatever criticism, the very fact that the nearly 200 parties to the NPT continue to discuss and debate the most effective collective measures that can be undertaken to meet the objective of the nuclear non-proliferation is testament to the endurance of the multilateral approach. I only hope that a truly successful outcome will put us on track to realize each one of the NPT's pillars. In my view, what those of us seeking a nuclear weapon free world can learn from the learn the current pandemic is the importance of science and policy nexus. Right now it is too early to judge the successes and failures of COVID response but one thing is clear if we are to prevent and adequately respond to similar events in future we need more scientific cooperation and science diplomacy than ever before and we also need a greater public understanding of science this should be where we pivot towards. For the past several decades the use of scientific expertise to further diplomacy has achieved notable successes in advancing peace and security. Science can demonstrate that technical solution to share problems are possible. This enables diplomats and other policymakers to build the political will needed to make those solutions a reality. There are plenty of great examples. One of the greatest example has been the verification regime of the CTBT drawn up largely at the time when the political will for the test ban treaty had not yet crystallized. It is a solid trustworthy tool that provides assurances to all that no country can conduct nuclear explosive testing. Despite this and this was mentioned by my dear friend and deputy minister the CTBT is still not in force. It is worth repeating that no path to a world without nuclear weapon is viable without a in-force comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. There is plenty of scope for using scientific cooperation in future to help build the basis for multilateralism. As leaders we all need to think about how we can counteract short termism and further boost the role of science and the role the science the role science can play in solving problems that affect us all. In our view the key main contribution we can make is through the public promotion of science and investment into science the communication of scientific approaches to problem solving and above all fostering access to science and technology education and training among the widest number of people as possible. At the CTBT we are doing what we can to advocate for the role of science in policymaking our biennial science and technology conferences and our science diplomacy symposiums are important contribution to that. So too is our capacity building work with government and institution in developing countries as well as our inter generational arts reach the CTBT youth group well supported by Kazakhstan not only by the first president of Kazakhstan but also by the president president Kasim Duman Tokayev who has been a strong advocate of the CTBT youth group as well. Let me close by thanking you all for participating in this event today and look forward to a lively discussion with many different viewpoints to be expressed. Let us recall that we that we determine our own future gloomy prediction of the demise of multilateralism about now but so have they done before. As we emerge from the shadow of COVID let us all commit to strengthening the global non-testing norm to bringing the CTBT into force to furthering the full implementation of the non-proliferation treaty and to leveraging science to address the global challenges we face as we seek to finally rid the world of nuclear weapons. We count as well on our champions of the nuclear test free world first presidents Nazarbayev and Excellency President Alolan from Finland. We counting on them and we counting on all of you to get this world rid of nuclear testing and prepare for the world free of nuclear weapon. Thank you. Thank you, Lesina, for your excellent remarks and for your continued efforts to bring into force the CTBT. We all know those countries on whose position this very important aspect is dependent and we would encourage you to continue with your efforts to make sure that CTBT as an important element of the nuclear free world is in force, in full force. Thank you also for highlighting the importance of the nexus of politicians, public awareness and science, most importantly in addressing this global challenge. Let me now give the floor to our next speaker, Ambassador Aydan Lidl. He has a distinguished career in the foreign office. He was posted in Stockholm, Islamabad and Brussels and since July 2018 he is the permanent representative of the United Kingdom at the conference on disarmament in Geneva. Of course UK as a P5 member has a great role to play to achieve our noble goal and I would welcome Ambassador Lidl to share with us his thoughts. Thank you very much indeed Ambassador and to your colleagues at the Embassy of Kazakhstan in London for organising this and indeed to our friends at SOAS for this important event. Thank you also Ambassador for telling me that my name is Kazakh. My parents always told me it was Irish but an example of cross-cultural cooperation perhaps that it's a recognised name in both. It's a particular pleasure to speak on this very distinguished panel. I regret that I'm going to have to disappear just before four o'clock because one of the things that this COVID hybrid world allows us to do is to be in many places at once so after I've spoken to this event in London from here in Geneva I'll be chairing a meeting in New York on an initiative we're taking on out to space security at the UN General Assembly so apologies but I won't be able to stay for the discussion but if there are any questions specifically for me then please do direct them via Dan to me and I'll be very happy to get back to you afterwards. It's also a particular pleasure to share a stage virtually with Deputy Minister Ashik Bayev. I had the honour of introducing him to the conference on disarmament last year when I was presiding over the conference when he came to the high level segment so it's a pleasure to share a podium with you we'll be at virtually again Mr Minister. It's also I find it always very intimidating to follow Dr Zerbo who's optimism is infectious and inspiring and I think is something we can all benefit from so thank you Dr Zerbo for that. It's of course true that COVID-19 has turned the world upside down we will recognise that but it's my personal view that what the pandemic has done is not to perhaps bring in any fundamental changes human beings after all adaptable and resilient creatures but what I think it has done is to accelerate and to exacerbate trends which perhaps are already going or already already running. Webinars is one of them I think traditionally I would have flown back to London for this but I don't have to and probably in the future that sort of this sort of mode of discussion will stay and probably for the better. Dr Zerbo asked if this was going to be the watershed then of changes and I think what the pandemic does in our sphere is to highlight both how we need to work together to solve common problems but also I think how that understanding that realisation also pulls against narrow national interests and we've seen in the response to the pandemic how I think there's been a general recognition that we all need to work together to coordinate our responses to use multilateral institutions and to ensure that multilaterally we are prepared for these sorts of crises but also how the response to these sorts of crises also engages very parochial interests and how difficult it is I think to promote multilateral cooperation over those parochial instincts in what is I think widely recognised to be a very low trust international environment at the moment so in that I think I'll probably bridge the pessimism that Dan articulates in the beginning perhaps with Dr Zerbo's optimism. The other thing it was highlighted and I don't need to go into this in detail because Dr Zerbo has already covered it but I think this pandemic does highlight the importance of having access to scientific expertise in the multilateral sphere we had a really good conversation this morning in the conference on disarmament about emerging technologies and the the point was made there that we really can't have meaningful conversations on how to create multilateral responses to these challenges without really robust independent scientific expertise but Dr Zerbo made that point more eloquently than I can. So I think these points are valued for the whole multilateral environment we obviously see it with the global public health system but I think these things are also true in multilateral nuclear disarmament. The context is as I say one of low trust and heightened tensions I think that's undeniable and I think while the world recommits itself regularly to a world without nuclear weapons and to the multilateral process for getting to that world without nuclear weapons it's often the lack of trust in the context it's sometimes the sort of parochial interests that stop us getting there. So what is the impact of the pandemic on the multilateral nuclear disarmament field I think it's again it's more of the same it's probably exacerbated some of the tensions it's probably exacerbated some of the lack of trust but it's also underlined that really there is no other way to get there. Being a diplomat I have to talk a bit about process as well of course one of the other major impacts of the or the most immediate impact really of the pandemic on our particular part of the multilateral jungle is the fact that we haven't been able to meet for our 10th review conference which was supposed to be in April and May this year. We hope indeed it will happen in January but I don't think anybody is laying major bets on that happening the pandemic is still very much in full swing in many parts of the world and having such a such a big international gathering in New York at the moment seems almost unimaginable but we have to imagine it and we have to work towards it because there really is no other way of making progress so I think with the with the sort of global the global context being the way it is and the difficulties in terms of diplomatic process in making progress on multilateral disarmament in the current circumstances the outlook is frankly not good but I think it's incumbent on all of us to to do what we can not only to keep the keep the conversation going in these difficult circumstances and to keep working towards our common goal but to find new and creative ways of doing so in the current circumstances of course we are meeting under the aegis of the embassy of Kazakhstan and Kazakhstan has been one of those countries who has really risen to that challenge over the years we've we've heard about Kazakhstan's record in championing the comprehensive test ban treaty I'm also very appreciative of their role in in promoting the concept of nuclear weapon free zones and indeed in in collaboration between nuclear weapon free zones which I think is a very important practical effort and it's those sorts of important practical efforts that we really need to be prioritizing at the moment so with all that said just a few words to close about what the UK is doing in these circumstances as I say our fundamental position hasn't changed we are committed to a world without nuclear weapons we are convinced that that world is possible and and necessary but we are also convinced that that world must be a safer world than the one we have at the moment we can't just go back to the world as it existed just before nuclear weapons came upon us in the 1940s that world wasn't particularly safe world as we found to our cost even using conventional means before before august 1945 that's why we're absolutely convinced the step by step approach to nuclear disarmament is the only viable way the test ban it was a hugely important part of that and its entry into force is an absolutely vital step along the road to a world without nuclear weapons and it's I think it's true to say that such a world is inconceivable without a without an enforced unenforceable and verifiable ban and it's credit to the to the to the work of the executive secretary that the ctpto is working so hard to bring that to fruition and we're a great champion of that work as well of course in Vienna but moving beyond the comprehensive test ban what more can we do again the UK has been a champion for many years of fissile material cut off treaty we need an internationally legally binding regime to manage to manage fissile material both in nuclear weapon states and on nuclear weapon states and that's an incredibly important objective that we're still we're still working hard on we have been particularly involved in recent years in efforts on verification because a nuclear weapon free world without really robust verification regimes is is certainly not going to be any safer and probably more dangerous than is now so it's a it's a very important strand of work to come up with with with with robust technique credible techniques for verifying the absence of nuclear weapons and dismantlement of nuclear weapons as part of the underpinning of a nuclear weapon free world this is another area where scientific expertise is absolutely vital it's one thing for diplomats like me to uh to make these points in in in multi-lateral fora but without the work of our experts at the atomic weapons establishment at Aldermaston and many other experts around the world on these techniques and and questions we're not going to get anywhere near the world that we that we need to see um the other thing i think that we've been championing over the last few years is is transparency i know that's it's an incredibly important aspect of this because again a world without nuclear weapons has to be an incredibly transparent world and verification is is part of that transparency is one of the underpinning principles of nuclear disarmament and it's something that we that we we've taken very seriously over the years um we have very high levels of transparency not only on our own capabilities our numbers of warheads our posture but also on our doctrine and at the moment of course we're going through an integrated review um which we'll be looking at our nuclear doctrine once more um it's starting from the premise that we will retain our nuclear deterrent for as long as the security situation demands it but it gives us the opportunity to look again at our posture uh to to uh to recalibrate our our approach to minimum credible deterrence which is very important to us and also to review things like our negative security assurances which again i know are greatly important of great importance to many to many states um so the approach we've taken to transparency and particularly with our national implementation report to the 10th review conference i think is an important contribution um we've also been of course the the coordinator of the p5 process over the last few years i won't go into more detail now about what we've done in that type i've done that elsewhere but um having keeping that cooperation going amongst the p5 even whilst tensions are so high and relations are so difficult in some cases is an incredibly important signal uh i think not just to the world in in in terms of our seriousness about nuclear disarmament and and maintaining strategic stability um but also of of really practical import um to um reducing tensions and reducing nuclear risks between us um to conclude then i i think i would just say that what the pandemic has done is to reinforce our conviction that a nuclear weapon free world um is uh still an absolutely fundamental goal of our foreign policy um and of our destiny as a global community but it's also it underpinned that that we can only do this working together we can only do this in a properly comprehensive multilateral way um engaging with the world as it is not as we want it to be and i think what the pandemic has shown that is that um things that are worthwhile are also very very difficult uh nuclear disarmament is only one of those problems it's been a problem for 75 years or more and it will it will continue to be a problem uh for many years in the future but it's only a problem that we'll be able to tackle uh if we if we work together if we seek the right advice uh if we approach each other's positions and problems with respect um and uh and and come up with new creative ways of of approaching old problems so with that i i say i regret that i can't stay on for the discussion because i'm sure it will come up with a lot of these uh these issues but i look forward to uh i look forward to working with all of you to achieve that goal thank you for ambassadors and you very very much for those very very interesting remarks it's now uh my great pleasure to i'm afraid not call upon cardinal peter turkson who is i think i'm going to air an airspace at this moment and i hope to be with us uh but um here's his colleague um uh who leads a work in integrated human uh development on disarmament um in the picasitio the vatican uh dr uh aletio who i think is uh is with us and should be able to join us now i hope uh let's hear the floor is yours thank you professor plash i'm going to read a message from his eminence cardinal peter uh turkson your excellencies esteemed professors procedure speakers dear france i would like to thank you the center for international uh uh studies and diplomacy and the embassy of khatasan the united states from inviting me to this prestigious event um at first i would like to support the call against nuclear tests on 29 of august we celebrate international day against nuclear tests and the closure of the semi-palatinsk nuclear test site in 1991 is one of the most powerful symbol of the overall testimony process nuclear test victims are esteemed to be more than 2.4 billions in the world i would like to send my prayers to their families their testimony recalls us that as for frances underlines nuclear weapons are a global problem affecting all nations and impact future generations and the planet that is our own it is with this convention that the odyssey ratified the treatment of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons the comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty and more recently the treaty on the prohibition nuclear weapons the odyssey firmly believes that these treaties are vital pieces in the nuclear development architecture and complement one another toward achieving a world without nuclear weapons kaza history shows that proliferation is not a one-way street as known after more than 1,400 soviet strategic nuclear warheads on its territory kaza sun has become a leading country in the field of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation whose greatest result is maybe the creation of the nuclear weapon free zone in central asia this must be acknowledged and supported by political leaders national and international institutions by echoing the strong position of pope frances against nuclear weapons my second call will be against the so-called doctrine of deterrence how can we speak of peace even as we build terrified new weapons of war as the pope says nuclear deterrence and the threat of mortal assured destruction cannot be the basis for genetics of fraternity and peaceful coexistence pope frances has also observed that until recently arts control policies were mainly handled by interstate diplomacy or by international accords today we're witnessing a growing awareness that each individual person and all people collectively are involved in arts control thus humanitarian disarmament movement is born which is perheaded by civil society groups with memberships panning the globe and which is a people centered approach to disarmament on its part our decastery intends to continue exile on disarmament sending it with the broader context of integral peace will delutter according to the saint pope john 223rd does not only refer to state armaments rather it calls another person to disarm is for her own part and to be a peacemaker everywhere integral disarmament takes us beyond the mentality of finding security only in our mind and the readiness for war and nurtures a cultural encounter for a civil gesture of love it aims at development the whole person for all people that cares deeply about God's creation in its totality to achieve integral disarmament it is however necessary to broke the whole logic of deterrence being it nuclear or conventional for this reason I welcome the UN Security Council reasoned endorsement for a global ceasefire but one thing is to call or endorse a ceasefire statement another thing is to implement it in order to do so we need to freeze weapons production and leading thus the decastery would like to reaffirm its strong support in favor of the freeze campaign how can we face the health and climate crisis if our investments are directed towards military production the stock on international peace will help us continue to increase in military spending 1.9 trillion US dollars only in 2019 even in the midst of global health crisis some decision makers are urging an increase in military spending increase military investments to not only reflect the increase in the tension between nations but by feeding the so-called security dilemma they generate and reinforce them in conclusion global issues require global solutions in face of the COVID-19 pandemic Pope Francis is calling for a global globalization of solidarity based on multilateral cooperation for this reason once again I welcome the decision of source university not only to commemorate the international day against nuclear tests but also to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the united nations the united nations constitute a space for dialogue and peaceful resolution resolution of conflicts that is unprecedented human history they are the pillar of multilateralism however the concept of globalization of solidarity goes behind behind the multilateralism even if it's so strongly needed today not only it refers to state level but includes communities and individuals and their response to the desire of human beings to feel rooted with their community in the whole humanity to build bridges keep dialogue open and continue to meet with one another we should still fight to be peace as chance in this period of the UN founders that in the aftermath of world war two had the courage to find innovative solution to secure our common future we must now pursue their force and with the help of the united nations campaign to give a chance to nuclear weapons free world thank you alicia thank you very much for your for being with us today and please send our warmest regards to Cardinal Peter Turksen and wish you well in his african trip we are a little bit behind schedule therefore I go straight to lord honey of course lord honey has the most distinguished political and diplomatic career he served took many important diplomatic positions including the minister of the british embassy in washington then he was ambassador permanent representative to the european economic community but most importantly for five years lord honey was uk's permanent representative to the united nations it was exactly the time when palestin became the member of the united nations in 1992 today lord honey keeps a very active role on the matter we are discussing today he is a co-chair of the opati parliamentary group on global security non-preparation as well as he is the chair of the opati group for the united nations of of westminster he is also a member of the top level group for nuclear disarmament and non-preparation and a member of the lord's international community therefore lord honey who knows a thing or two about the matter under discussion I have the great pleasure and honor to give the floor to you well thank you thank you ambassador very much for that I think the question posed to all contributors to this webinar whether post-covid multilateral cooperation offers a chance to achieve a nuclear weapons free world that question in my view is best responded to in very general terms by quoting that often cited but in my view rather wise chinese saying the longest journey begins with the first step because it will be a long journey there really is no doubt about that if we are to achieve global zero there aren't any shortcuts available even if as is very possible what is known as the ban treaty enters into force among its signatories fairly soon because those signatories don't include any of the states which currently possess nuclear weapons and none of those states has shown any interest in signing up so I doubt myself if there is a viable alternative to what I would describe as an incremental approach to the to nuclear disarmament which is of course why multilateral cooperation is so fundamentally important because that's the only way to achieve that kind of incremental progress so you will reasonably ask what is that first step one that I would have no hesitation in answering that it that it it currently must be the extension of the us-russian new start treaty on strategic weapons which if not extended will lapse in february 2021 if that were to happen there would be no cap on number of strategic weapons in the arsenals of the two largest nuclear weapon powers and the mutual surveillance and monitoring provisions of new start will be lost to add to that of course the fact that this is the last remaining serious arms control treaty between those two nuclear states so while we need to recognize and to respect the fact that new start is a bilateral treaty we're not parties to it no one else is except the us and russia and we need to to avoid being drawn into the us presidential election campaign that goes without saying it is nevertheless I think very important that all those friends and allies of those two states express clearly their hope that agreement will be reached to extend that particular treaty and there I salute frankly the contribution of the deputy minister of Kazakhstan to our webinar today when he expressed that view in the name of his government I think that was extraordinarily helpful talks between the two parties as we know are continuing ongoing there have been a couple of sessions recently in Vienna so it is not too late for such expressions of view by governments and by parliamentarians to have some influence now much concern is expressed about the position of china whose nuclear arsenal and policies remain cloaked in a good deal of obscurity again addressing this will necessarily be a long journey but an important first step would be to engage a serious dialogue about strategic stability and nuclear risk reduction between the p5 agreement in principle to do this was registered when the p5 met at deputy minister level in london this last february the first discussion was to have taken place in the margins of the nuclear non-proliferation review conference last april but that conference was postponed as we've heard already this afternoon because of covet 19 until next year that discussion that dialogue amongst the p5 really needs to be engaged at that occasion and that conference too will need to consider whether there are more promising ways than can be found for handling the nuclear programs of north korea and iran both of which pose existential threats to the non-proliferation treaty regime which remains a cornerstone of international peace and security in neither case uh the in neither case can we say that the current discord and stasis offer a promising way forward in the case of iran it becomes steadily more urgent to look again at the sunset provisions of the original jcpoa and also not to lose sight of the overall objective which we really do need to keep in our on the horizon of making progress towards the zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the middle east now it's tempting to feel despondent several previous speakers to myself have expressed varying degrees of despondency about the prospects for multilateral nuclear disarmament as the original steps in that direction are reversed or ignored and i understand that despondency but tempting though it is i believe it is premature to despond what is sure is that if we allow despondency to triumph then we will find ourselves living in a great deal less secure world even than the one we live in now thank you very much thank you thank you very profound remarks thank you indeed so it's now my pleasure to uh call upon Kate Hudson who is general secretary of the british campaign for nuclear disarmament Kate is Kate are you with us sorry yes i'm here okay okay thanks very much so your excellencies ladies and gentlemen i would like to express our sincere thanks for the organization of this important discussion it will be very helpful in developing crucial strategic thought at a time when many certainties have been undermined and the possibility of new thinking is on the agenda at least for a time today our world is facing a number of severe interlocking crises which make nuclear use more likely and make international cooperation more vital than ever these crises expedite the degradation and destruction of human life our health the environment and the natural world and indeed the future of our planet if any good can come out of the tragedy of the pandemic it is surely that it has provoked so many to say there can be no going back to how things were that we need to build back better there is an opportunity to do things differently but this requires sustained commitment and determination by enormous forces by states and by people from our perspective nuclear disarmament must be part of the rethinking earlier this year the hands of the doomsday clock was set at 100 seconds to midnight closer than they have ever been to catastrophe even at the height of the cold war this must be a call to action for all in this context the initiative of the un secretary general to call for a global ceasefire was an important example of how the international community could work in britain as in many other countries the pandemic has exposed the disastrous failure of government policy which sees security in terms of the capacity to kill and which sees national status in terms of possession of weapons of mass destruction this remains the primary reason for british possession of nuclear weapons to secure as a seat at the so-called top table of global power politics but our politicians have failed to make us secure for some years pandemics have been designated as tier one threats to our security the excessive national security risk assessments have rightly identified such human health crises as worthy of the highest level of concern and planning so why was britain unprepared for the coronavirus with insufficient equipment staff and infrastructure to serve its people we don't have to look far to see what has gone wrong the last two security strategies have designated the risk of nuclear weapons proliferation and use is a tier two threat below that of pandemics yet the governments that produce the risk assessments chose to pour vast sums into a new nuclear weapons system to meet this lower level threat at the same time our health system was left chronically underfunded by years of austerity cuts and rendered unable to meet the challenge of a pandemic but the pandemic has also shown us what is possible as the virus hit hard in the early stages of the lockdown government urged rapid changes in industrial production many companies including those that make parts of the uk's trident nuclear weapons system switched to making ventilators protective visors and other health equipment we want to work to ensure that production for public good is made permanent and no doubt there are many examples on the international scale yet at the same time as opportunities exist we're also facing an increasingly dangerous military situation driven most alarmingly by us policies withdrawal from key nuclear reduction and control treaties and the possibility of the resumption of nuclear testing all increase the risk of nuclear war the us national security strategy has had a disturbing orientation towards conflict with china and russia and its most recent nuclear posture review referred to so-called usable nuclear weapons these are now produced and deployed taking these developments together shows how important our efforts towards a nuclear weapons free world really are in this context it is profoundly to be welcomed that ratifications of the treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons are steadily mounting towards the 50 required to bring it into force this will be a very important development which shows courageous leadership from those states that champion the treaty for us in the uk we face a huge challenge our government is opposed to the treaty and an enormous effort is required to make the treaty impact on the nuclear weapons states mass pressure from citizens is crucial to bring change we need popular mobilization especially in the context of the pandemic where resources need to move from military expenditure to meeting human need new arguments are now possible while minds are open in new ways and it must be done to ensure our survival humanity must come together organize and cooperate on a global scale never seen before the chance is there we must act together to make it happen thank you very much thank you Kate for your very enthusiastic and emotional remarks I want now to invite our Pagos chairman from Kazakhstan and from the United Kingdom first the floor goes to Dr. Skolnick as I said he is a nuclear physicist like his background and education he knows the matter under discussion quite profusely therefore Lady Mr. Gage you have the floor thank you a lot your lectures ladies and gentlemen thank you very much for the possibility to be here I would like to emphasize what the Polish Committee of Republic Kazakhstan was established in 2017 it brought together the leading scientists and specialists of the republic who are not indifferent to security of our future they are making every possible effort to prevent the use of scientific and technological developments development of weapons of mass destruction to reduce the global level of tension and risk associated with such weapons our scientists actively supported and took part in activities to create a nuclear weapon free zone in central Asia alongside works on improving the method and applying the IACF guards to the nuclear to the nuclear activities of Kazakhstan enterprises to ensure safety in the handling of various weapon-grade nuclear materials including spent fuel fast-bred reactor BN350 research reactors in national nuclear center are being converted to low energy nuclear fuel a similar project has been completed in the Institute of Nuclear Physics in Almaty the international law enrichment uranium bank was established in Kazakhstan where its nuclear materials is located now it's obvious that our work is proceeding in close cooperation with colleagues from other countries who adhere to the same views exchange of experience ideas joining actions all these are integral attributes of the Polish movement of course the spread of the pandemic makes its own adjustment in the form of power preparation but today's webinar illustrates well the possibility of online work in addition of technical issues we pay great attention to creating a legal framework for the containment of nuclear weapons and nuclear design Kazakhstan signed the nuclear weapon ban treaty in 2018 we understand that without the participation of the nuclear weapons states the treaty you have limited effect but the important things is that this treaty clearly outlaw nuclear weapons after its entry into force legal speculation will be impossible to justify the threat of the use of such weapons by anyone this aspect it was mentioned the ambiguous provision of paragraph four of article four of international convention for suppression of act of nuclear terrorism where the legality of the use nuclear weapon by states can be lately assumed unfortunately there is still no progress on the development of treaty banning of production of physical physical materials for nuclear weapons and nuclear explosive devices which would become an effective component of international legal system for keeping the purification of nuclear weapons and would contribute to the nuclear development it seems that posh moment can contribute or the promotion of both the treaty and the improvement of other legal instruments in the field of nuclear development and non-proliferation thus improving the international legal infrastructure can be important area of work in the post-pandemic period such question of whether to wait for the right moment to end the existence of nuclear weapon has an unambiguous answer of course not the work must continue and all efforts of all the scientists and specialists must be aimed at preventing further escalation the global risk associated with the presence of improvement for weapon of mass destruction regardless of the official policy of their states in addition scientists can be should contribute to the development of peaceful use of endemic energy and application of serial purposes it's important to know the department of Kazakhstan contributes the development of nuclear power technologies the country is carrying out the search for aimed of improving the safety of nuclear energy facilities experimental studies are being carried out the results of which form the basis of safe and economical projects of new generation nuclear reactors in Kazakhstan a project being implemented to create a material science tokamak ptm in support the program for creating an international thermal nuclear experiment of reactor it is what first specialized tokamak designed to test the functional and structural materials for future the thermal nuclear power engineering to conclude i believe that expanding international collaboration is this area is a is a feasible and promising task for despite temporary difficulties work to strengthen international relation continues and active work of the published committee of Kazakhstan means its results in the form expanding interaction between scientists which in turn leads the to the initiation of implementation of future scientific project obtaining science results which are significant to science worldwide thank you very much thank you so much minister and it's great to be interacting with with pub wash again which i've been involved with many years and it's a great pleasure to now call on ambassador Peter Jenkins i'll ask to contribute to hear from the the british end of our pub wash and i'm pleased to say that we can continue to run about four o'clock and we'll have an opportunity to take in some of the questions that have have come in so over to you peter mike peter do that for me now i'm in trouble i took in our has someone done it for me yeah it's been done thank you yeah thank you thank you dan thank you excellency um the november u.s presidential and congressional elections seem to me more likely to make a difference to the outlook for nuclear arms control and disarmament than the covid-19 pandemic the election of former vice president biden can lead to a revival of u.s interest in nuclear arms control a democratic majority in the senate and house could possibly lead to a scaling back of plans to modernize and renew the u.s nuclear triad although the u.s nuclear weapons industry due to benefit from colossal federal spending on modernization and renewal will try hard to thwart any scaling back a formulation i have just used is perhaps misleading it implies that the trump administration has had no interest in nuclear arms control that is not quite true they have not excluded an extension to new start which will expire in february 2021 but for long they set a condition chinese accession to the extension negotiation which was not within the realm of probability they have now dropped that condition but they have set new conditions they want russia to agree to expand new start to include limits on all types of nuclear warhead and to alter the treatise verification regime these conditions will be an obstacle to extension to judge from what russian deputy minister revcoff told reporters on 18 august i have been talking about nuclear arms control because alas i think this is the most for which we who want to see the world rid of nuclear weapons can hope at this stage i cannot think of a single state possessing nuclear weapons that has been showing signs of willingness to give up weapons which are perceived as providing status and prestige in addition to a deterrence capability to my mind this situation calls for the non-nuclear weapon states to bring pressure to bear on the five npt nuclear weapon states bilaterally and multilaterally at the 2021 npt review conference and in un4 because collective pressure is harder to ignore than bilateral pressure the obvious priority is to get the united states and russia to agree to an extension of new start and a negotiation on a successor agreement embracing all types of nuclear warhead thereafter i suggest a focus on reducing the risk that any of the fives roughly 3500 deployed nuclear warheads will ever be used by urging all five to commit to no first use which in turn would entail the united states abandoning an escalation to deescalate doctrine and russia abandoning doctrinal provision for the use of tactical nuclear weapons to compensate for perceived conventional inferiorities the abandonment of hair trigger alert postures and agreement to refrain from placing in space weapons which threaten the survival of space based early warning and communication systems would also be valuable to many of us who want a world free of nuclear weapons this will probably seem a very modest agenda i suggest though that we must think of ourselves as passengers on a ship bound for a promised land that first suffered a loss of power and on which now a fire has broken out we must come together to put out the fire as quickly as possible with every intention once the fire is out of finding a way to restore full power to the propulsion gear thank you imagery to conclude your remarks your excellency i think we have a few questions that have come in i can perhaps respond to a couple of them verbally you and your team may want to and i'm sure that maybe you want to be some discussion amongst amongst the panelists one one question related to the relative damage of covid which is global and nuclear weapons which are can be thought of individually is just taking a local having a local impact and i think i have to disagree with that although of course covid today counts false getting on for a million deaths no one knows precisely but that that death toll could come about in a single major city from a single significant a hydrogen bomb for example on central london that the prompt deaths and the not so prompt deaths from such an explosion would be in the order of a million out of some eight million in the great london area so without wanting to compete over the the numbers of the dead which is a gruesome and foolish task i think the the global impact of the pandemic which is still unfortunately gathering momentum in a number of parts of the world not least india that compared to the release of the use of nuclear weapons on a major scale which also would have as we know from our colleagues in kazakhstan a a devastating multi-generational impact on the civilian population and of course it was from nuclear testing back in 1960s that radiation started to be seen in cow's milk that in a sense produced a global revulsion in public opinion against nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere so the idea that nuclear weapons are listed of a local effect is not really scientifically accurate there are two other questions that have come in but your agency you'll do to continue with one or two of them or do you want to mention yourself i think our team is sending the questions to your phone yes so you can uh well i can i'll pass on another one to you um after it had another quick look here um well i guess there's one for me here because of usuk nuclear collaboration cooperation um the cooperation of two countries and indeed the united kingdom has expressed as i believe a support for the development of a uh a small nuclear weapon they say small but this is uh or the order of magnitude of herishima or a bit smaller to be fired from submarines um which traditionally have been thought of as the the sort of democles uh the great threat in the background if war breaks out and not for um the conduct of so-called tactical small news and these i think are very negative developments and what's to be done about it well i can only agree with um miss hudson that public opinion uh must uh uh come to the fore but sadly i think our media in even in our uh the very free west and free britain is very poor at informing the public about about these issues um but i wondered if uh you actually had a view on the question of uh the global impact of uh nuclear weapons used compared to covid and uh obviously because you have had the experience of this within kazakhstan well uh i would rather offer this question to our panelists who would like to uh pick up here and take this question from our distinguished panel yes beta please do i have the floor yes yes yes like just two words um on the one hand one could conceive of an attraction in moving from a world um of 3500 thermonuclear weapons uh to a world of much much fewer but also much less powerful um atomic weapons or very small thermonuclear weapons because obviously in one sense um such the smaller weapons would pose less of a threat to the future of mankind and the future of the planet um but on the other hand it has long been thought that if one makes it uh less and less terrifying and for for the future of mankind to use nuclear weapons to initiate a nuclear exchange uh then one is increasing the risk that such an exchange will take place so on balance my own personal view is that these small nuclear weapons are uh should be avoided thank you another question has come in for the for the panel uh relates to the the denigration of science and the the role in which media particularly social media has accelerated the the denigration of science at the expense of well i guess superstition i would say that wasn't the word in the question and what could we the expertise recommend um for people to do uh to to combat this in a sense attack on rationality and a very welcome any any contributors to that uh very important question um i shall i say a word yes jump in um i think the need to combat what uh is known as fake news um wrongly known as fake news because the person who most often uses the word fake news is actually propagating fake news himself the president of the united states but uh i do think that the um the all branches of the commentariat of the media have got to fight back and that means they've got to find ways of bringing to the public's attention the views of scientists whether it's on nuclear issues on pandemics or elsewhere and leave people to judge for themselves whether they want to believe the fake news or whether they want to believe the scientists and those who actually know something about the subject under discussion i don't think we can duck that i certainly don't think we can afford to say it's all over the world is now completely changed there is no such thing as real news there's just various brands of propaganda and fake news that would be a solution to spare and i don't believe that in a world where after all a higher proportion of the population has got a really good degree of education that this is a lost cause i think it just takes time and effort and patience hey let's see your team to get him involved please do well just a quick word about how serious this is um i referred earlier to the bulletin of atomic scientists their comments about um why they'd moved the hands a hundred seconds to midnight and this very fact um the denigration of science and development of fake news and so on was up there amongst the reasons they gave for those great dangers um but they also identified a further element to it which is the um the potential undermining of our democracy um through fake news and the denigration of science and and indeed the um undermining of the possibility of nuclear disarmament because uh people don't know what credit to give to reasoned arguments you know so it's um it's bad to have fake news on on the television and so on but also the kind of the undermining of the intellectual um theoretical and policy um fabric of our societies is absolutely crucial as well so i think we all have a responsibility to seek out um credible and trustworthy news sources and to interrogate everything that we read you know not just to retweet something this is a trap that people fall into but i think it's something very important that we need to address very seriously thank you lasina i think you had a point you wanted to make please do yeah sorry i said both of them at okay okay go ahead it's okay yeah i said both of them have uh raised the point that i wanted to make about uh denigration of of science but one thing i want to add is that we have the responsibility ourselves in this field when we talk about uh this good nexus between science and policy in the field of nuclear disarmament and security i think we should communicate more ourselves those who are involved in this issue at diplomatic level that involves science uh missions you know the work that kazakhstan is doing the scientific work that was done in kazakhstan to start for instance the verification regime of the ctpt i think there's a lot more communication to be done in that field to allow people to understand what what is the background of the work we do and then where we want to go so it is true that when we when we go for instance to conferences like i mentioned the npt uh i'm happy to hear today that uh the path towards nuclear disarmament the path towards the world free of nuclear weapon goes through the entering to force of the pomegranate and test pan treaty i think many of you have mentioned this and this is something that we should explain to say why we think this is the way to go it takes into account not only the step by step approach but also the insistence of those who think that nuclear disarmament is not something that is as seen any progress and then how we can mix those two and then communicate in the best interest of all parties i think that's something that we should do more and more and then be involved in the debate not only on twitter but also on this type of webinars that we're organizing and that people can follow that's what i wanted to thank you thank you so much i wonder if there are other people who would like to make comments on each other's contributions as we move towards uh bringing this uh very very interesting afternoon to a close i would say i think that falsehood propaganda has been around with us really since uh the beginning of time and i always remember in high school being taught that in the Napoleonic era the bulletins of the french emperor were gave rise to the expression to lie like a bulletin because of the information coming out of his office was seen to be so unreliable so i think we should be caught and aware and think that what we're experiencing is new i think although actually through the smartphone individual human beings have access to unparalleled amounts of information and data and i guess i speaking as an educator our responsibility is to help people uh sort out the wheat from the chaff the intelligence from the nonsense and to develop those analytical skills which is why i guess uh self-serving here higher education still matters but with that warm up to you all to think about what any final remarks you might like to make we do have a couple of minutes and your excellency i think should then sum up and and close our very very interesting women up which i will just take the opportunity to thank you all for participating in so the floor is yours ladies and gentlemen your excellencies or we can move towards closure as you wish well i think i think that we have covered at length and in detail uh many aspects and concerns i'd like once again to thank all the panelists for joining us today expressing their views on on the matter we are discussing uh we have uh put the uh disarmament in the context of the covid and the global response to the pandemic i think one uh red line which we heard today is a concern whether the dividing lines will increase or whether we will have wisdom and courage and perseverance to uh actually uh hear and respond properly to the cause of a non-division uh lord honey said about the despondency i completely agree that we should be uh very uh adamant not allow the feeling of despondency uh to creep in uh yes there are very disturbing signs uh thrown by the pandemic that divisions are still there therefore uh calisthenics small nation we are maybe big by size but we are a nation of only 18 million people uh we would like to see uh genuine efforts global efforts regional efforts to uh enhance multilateralism uh we have to make sure that uh through organizations like kates organization that the public public voice is made stronger and stronger uh for that matter uh uh uh calisthenics will continue with with its uh item project uh abolish uh testing our mission uh we have to uh bring in scientists with their strong voice they should not be detached uh in no way uh from politicians who make uh important decisions yes we hear uh and see what's going on over the other side of the atlantic uh we see the growing concerns uh with regard to uh us rasha standoff uh the uh views on the chinese growth uh but uh uh from kazakhstan i'd like to uh re-enhance our uh hope that uh we will not give way to more divisions and i hope that pandemic uh and the challenges we face with the pandemic will force us as we'll encourage us further to come together and uh uh address the issues which are on our agenda first of all of course nuclear disarmament is a crucial thing uh this is existential existential threat so we have to be uh absolutely serious about that uh uh join uh efforts uh uh from every corner of the world i'd like to thank for your enthusiasm for your sincere feelings and your devotion and dedication to this very important course thank you you want to add something well i can you reiterate your your your remarks uh we are looking to uh build towards uh u n day in october uh with the idea that is now really the time to to freeze weapons production across the board um the pressures were there before um and i think i we can't i think carry on this way and i i fear that the impact of covid is not over um but uh talking to a friends of a scientist i think there are many signs that it's direct medical and social and political impact are only now uh uh gathering momentum and in the sense we have had the volcanic explosion but the tidal wave has yet to reach us um and i think as that crisis accelerates then the pressures to reduce conflict and to deal with military expenditure um are are growing in importance but i'll be remiss in not thanking um my colleagues julia root anant and ola in putting this whole event together and look forward to working with you all in the future thank you so much i thank you once again i would like to also say that uh um bringing young people young generation is absolutely important i'd like to commend the the center for international studies and diplomacy of the solace university for doing this there is a growing group of young people who are motivated and dedicated to uh this great challenge i hope that your center will continue to do this very important work and i don't think that we have to waste time waiting for the 2021 we have to prepare the ground now uh whether we are still uh uh distant from each other by uh the uh social distancing etc etc but uh important steps are to be done now and we have the opportunity given by the technology to uh uh work together and uh make our voices stronger and well heard by the politicians thank you very much and once again you have a nice afternoon here in london it's already uh uh late evening in kazakhstan i'd like to thank all the participants for this uh for their contributions and we wish you well and we hope that we'll have more and more opportunities to meet with each other thank you very much thank you you