Voltaire Network: UN General Assembly will not be able to debate the INF Treaty
On 25 October 2018, the First Committee of the UN General Assembly, tasked with disarmament and international security, rejected the Russian draft resolution on the INF Treaty (the Treaty on Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces).
25 NATO Member States voted against examining the Russian draft.
This was because it had been filed on 18 October outside the prescribed time limit.
31 States voted in favor of examining the resolution.
Such states reason that the Russian draft responds to the US declaration of 20 October and that, the importance of the subject matter would constitute exceptional circumstances for making it an agenda item.
25 member states abstained from voting.
According to the UN by-laws, Russia will be able to summon an emergency debate on this issue in the UN Security Council but not before a year before the UN General Assembly.