The non-proliferation of nuclear weapons will be one of the leading topics of discussion in the Security Council in January. The Council will hold a high-level thematic briefing on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Chaired by President of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev about the topic ‘The non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction: confidence-building measures’ will be discussed. Presidents and Ministers from many countries will take part in the briefing. When Kazakhstan became the independent country, the Kazakh Leader signed a decree about the closure of the Semey nuclear test site. On December 14, 1993, Kazakhstan became a party to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

‘Why did we decide to raise the problem? We believe that nowadays, we need to pay more attention to building trust relations between different political leaders and countries. We think that without this it is impossible to solve any problems. In my opinion, it is one of the main issues in the world right now’, said Ambassador Kairat Umarov.

On January 19, Kazakh Foreign Minister Kairat Abdurakhmanov will preside over the ministerial-level debate on strengthening regional cooperation between Afghanistan and Central Asian countries in the Security Council. In addition, the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will participate in the meeting. According to the Ambassador of Kazakhstan, the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue will be one of the most important topics on the Security Council's working agenda in January. He also mentioned that in December 2017 in Astana, there was another meeting on Syria, and it was called productive by the UN.

Therefore, under the leadership of Kazakhstan open and closed discussions of the Council on the situation in Syria, Libya and other African countries will hold. Several resolutions and presidential statements are scheduled to be adopted in the meeting.

Recall, for the first time in history, Kazakhstan have begun to preside to the United Nations Security Council, and the first time became a member of the Security Council. Also, Kazakhstan is the first of the Central Asian countries which elected to non-permanent members of the Security Council.

Madina KERIMKULOVA,

'Egemen Kazakhstan'