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Statement by Lithuania at the UNGA80 First Committee Cluster II (Other Weapons of Mass Destruction).

Mister Chair,

Lithuania fully aligns itself with the statement delivered on behalf of the European Union. The following remarks are in my national capacity.

The use of chemical weapons is unacceptable regardless of the location, time, perpetrator, or circumstances. Violations by certain states, including Russia, North Korea, and al-Assad’s Syria, have contributed to a gradual weakening of this norm.

Given current security environment, strengthening enforcement mechanisms and international cooperation is critical to maintaining the Chemical weapon prohibition. In this context, Lithuania welcomes Syria’s cooperation with the OPCW and encourage further progress towards full compliance with the Convention.

Lithuania is deeply concerned by growing number of credible reports of Russia’s use of Riot Control Agents and possibly chloropicrin in Ukraine as a method of warfare, which is explicitly prohibited under the Convention. Despite mounting evidence, Russia refuses to provide an explanation under Article IX of CWC, and resorting instead to denial, propaganda and disinformation. This is a familiar pattern that we saw with the attempted assassination of late Alexei Navalny, as well as in the attempted assassination of Sergei and Yulia Skripal. Lithuania calls for timely attribution and full accountability to uphold the global norm against chemical weapons.

Against this background, we commend the Technical Secretariat of the Organisation for Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) for monitoring the situation in Ukraine closely. We also very much appreciate the Secretariat’s ongoing work in providing equipment to Ukraine and in training Ukrainian experts. We welcome that Ukraine remains a strong supporter of the Convention and fully complies with its provisions.

Mister Chair,

I would like to reaffirm Lithuania’s steadfast commitment to upholding the global norm against biological weapons and to express our continued support for the effective operation and implementation of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BWC). This is a commitment that is even more vital in the light of the growing opportunities but also risks posed by rapid advances in biotechnology, synthetic biology, and the globalization of related industries.

In this context, we welcome fruitful work of Working Group on the Strengthening of the Convention; we look forward to the timely establishment of the two proposed mechanisms (the Science and Technology Review Mechanism and the International Cooperation and Assistance Mechanism) as well as the launch of the Open-Ended Working Group on compliance and verification.

Furthermore, we condemn Russia’s attempts to divert attention from its unjustified and illegal full-scale war against Ukraine by spreading disinformation concerning Ukraine’s and its partners legitimate biosafety and biosecurity capacity-building initiatives.

Mister Chair,

We would also like to highlight the issue of chemical munitions dumped at sea, which pose a latent yet growing global security threat, especially in the Baltic Sea. We urge this matter to be viewed through a security lens, especially amid rising maritime activity, natural degradation and hybrid threats such as undersea infrastructure sabotage, including anchor dragging by Russia’s shadow fleet. Lithuania invites all member states to co-operate actively on this important matter.

I thank you, Mister Chair.