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On October 15th the Ambassador A. Plepyte made a statement at the UNGA 75th Session of the First Committee, General Debate.

Mr. Chairman, 
 
At the outset, I would like to congratulate you and other members of the bureau with your election and assure you of full support during the session.
 
Lithuania fully aligns itself with the statement made on behalf of the EU. In our national capacity, I would like to stress the following.
 
Today our states and societies encounter numerous security challenges – in addition to the health crisis posed by COVID19. We are facing continued military build-ups, recurring armed conflicts, assault on democratic freedoms. Our security is being challenged in cyber and information space by malign hybrid activities.  
 
Against this background, upholding the rules-based multilateral system is of critical importance. Arms control agreements must be fully implemented to provide more transparency and contribute to greater stability and predictability. To do so, they should be reciprocal, verifiable and respected by all parties.
 
We are particularly concerned by the regional security situation in Europe. Our system of collaborative institutions and agreements centered around the OSCE, including CFE, Vienna Document and Open Skies Treaty has been under pressure. There is no progress in resolving conflicts and restoring territorial integrity of Ukraine and Georgia. The recent events in Nagorno Karabakh demonstrated weakness of existing conflict prevention mechanisms. 
 
Lithuania is convinced that solution could only be found on the basis of the fundamental principles of the UN Charter, the Helsinki Final Act and the Paris Charter, including refraining from the threat or use of force, inviolability of frontiers, territorial integrity of States and peaceful settlement of disputes. Implementation and compliance with the existing legal Treaty obligations and political commitments is of the utmost importance to rebuild trust, predictability and security in the Euro-Atlantic region.
 
Mr. Chairman,
 
One of the oldest and almost universally agreed norm in the international law in the field of security is a prohibition of using chemical weapons anywhere, at any time, by anyone, under any circumstances. It is therefore difficult to comprehend that in the XXI century we need to address this. The re-emergence of chemical weapons and their recent use in Syria, Malaysia, UK and Russia is one of the most urgent threats to international peace and security and has to be dealt with firmly and collectively. There should be no impunity for the use of chemical weapons and perpetrators be it state or non-state actors shall be held accountable.   Lithuania strongly condemns the use of chemical weapons by the Syrian Arab Air Force as concluded by the first report of the OPCW Investigation and Identification Team (IIT) to the OPCW Executive Council and to the Secretary General of the United Nations on 8 April 2020. Following the report, on 9 July 2020 the Executive Council took an important decision (EC94/DEC.2), setting a timeframe and clear actions for the Syrian Arab Republic to take regarding its possession and use of chemical weapons. We regret to note that the Syrian Arab Republic has not fulfilled its obligations. We urge the Syrian Government to cooperate in good faith with
the OPCW and to live up to full compliance with the Chemical Weapons Convention. We continue to lend our full support to the Director-General, Ambassador Fernando Arias, along with the OPCW teams, and remain fully confident in their professionalism and impartiality on this matter.
 
Lithuania condemns in the strongest possible terms the attack on Alexei Navalny with the use of a nerve agent from the banned Novichok group, as has been confirmed by the OPCW on the basis of analysis conducted in two of its designated laboratories, as well as by three independent laboratories from Germany, France and Sweden. This assassination attempt, that took place on the territory of the Russian Federation, is a clear violation of the Convention and international law. We fully support the OPCW’s role in the investigation of this case while calling on the Russian Federation to be fully transparent and immediately disclose any information relevant to the OPCW’s work.
 
We are dismayed by the repeated attempts to challenge the authority and integrity of the OPCW, which is fulfilling its duty to serve the international community by conducting objective and impartial investigations that helps fighting the impunity of the use of chemical weapons. Lithuania strongly supports the UN Secretary-General’s Mechanism, which has proved successfully its capacity in impartial international investigation of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and is currently the only independent international instrument for investigating the alleged use of biological weapons. Any attempts to compromise its integrity, independence and efficiency are completely unacceptable. We expect all States to reaffirm their strong political commitment to upheld the norms of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention (BTWC) and their related annual resolutions at this First Committee session. 
 
Mr Chairman, 
 
We are looking forward to the upcoming NPT Review Conference and we are hoping that it will be successfully conducted despite the pandemic circumstances. We support the NPT as a cornerstone for global nuclear disarmament. The NPT with its three pillars remains a fundamental international mechanism contributing to global peace, security and stability. 
 
As a non-nuclear state Lithuania reiterates its support to an inclusive and gradual approach to nuclear disarmament and meaningful steps towards creating the environment conducive for further nuclear disarmament negotiations to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.
 
Lithuania strongly believes that reciprocal and verifiable treaty-based nuclear arms control, reflecting existing security environment, can contribute to international security and stability. We support an ongoing strategic stability talks and the efforts to reinvigorate nuclear arms control together with the New START, including all types of nuclear weapons and strengthening verification mechanisms. We call on China to positively consider invitation joining strategic stability dialogue with the United States and Russia in order to upgrade nuclear arms control architecture for the next decades to come. 
 
Mr. Chairman,
 
We reiterate our strong commitment to arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, and call on nations to respect their obligations and commitments in this field.