Rappresentanza Permanente d’Italia presso la Conferenza del Disarmo Ginevra

Main Statements

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) remains the cornerstone of the global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. Entering into force in 1970 for an initial period of 25 years, the Treaty was extended indefinitely in 1995. It currently counts 191 States Parties, including all five permanent members of the UN Security Council, which are also recognized nuclear powers (China, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States).

The NPT is built upon three mutually renforcing pillars: disarmament, non-proliferation and the right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. Each State Party is committed by Art. VI – the cornerstone of the disarmament pillar – “to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament”

Non-proliferation is addressed in Articles I and II, obliging States Parties not to transfer, receive, manufacture or “otherwise acquire” nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, nor to seek or provide assistance in their production.

Finally, Art. IV guarantees the “inalienable right” of all State Parties to develop research, production, and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

Among other provisions of the Treaty, Article III states that all non-nuclear weapon Members of the NPT undertake safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – to ensure that nuclear energy is not diverted from peaceful uses to nuclear weapons. Article VII recognizes the right of any group of States to stipulate regional instruments with the objective of creating Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones (NWFZ). As of today, such zones exist in the following areas: Latin America and the Caribbean (established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco, 1967); South Pacific (Treaty of Rarotonga, 1985); Southeast Asia (Treaty of Bangkok, 1995); Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba, 1996); and Central Asia (Treaty of Semipalatinsk, 2006). In 1995, NPT States Parties adopted a resolution urging Middle East States to take practical steps towards the establishment of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, chemical, biological), and the remaining NPT members, especially those possessing nuclear weapons, to cooperate towards this goal, still remained unfulfilled (see below).

Every five years, a Review Conference (RevCon) is convened at the UN Headquarters in New York to assess the status of NPT implementation and progress made in the context of its three pillars. The most recent RevCon, held from 1 to 26 August 2022 under the Presidency of the Ambassador of Argentina, Gustavo Zlauvinen was unable to reach consensus on a final document, mainly due to the Russian Federation’objections to text concerning nuclear risks related to its aggression against Ukraine.

The 2022 Review Conference was followed by the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference, which was held in Vienna from 31 July to 11 August 2023 under the chairmanship of Finnish Ambassador Jarmo Viinanen. The second session took place in Geneva from 22 July to 2 August 2024 under the chairmanship of Kazakh Ambassador Akan Rakhmetullin. The third session, meanwhile, was held in New York from 28 April to 9 May 2025 under the chairmanship of Ghanaian Ambassador Harold Agyeman..

The Review Conferences also have the task of formulating recommendations for future actions. In this regard, for example, the 2010 Conference was particularly significant for the adoption of an Action Plan that many hoped would reinvigorate the implementation of the Treaty, following the failure to reach agreement on a substantive final document at the previous 2005 Conference. The 2010 Action Plan contains 64 recommendations aimed at advancing the objectives of the NPT, with particular emphasis on the provisions related to disarmament. These include measures for the reduction and total elimination of nuclear arsenals; assurances against the use of nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states (known as Negative Security Assurances, NSAs); nuclear testing; and the management of fissile material.

In a separate section, the document also mandated the UN Secretary-General to convene, during 2012, a Conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, “to be attended by all States of the region.” The first session of the Conference was held only in 2019, and the fifth and most recent session took place from 18 to 22 November 2024. The sixth session will be held from 17 to 21 November 2025 under the presidency of Morocco’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, Ambassador Omar Hilale.

Italian participation in the NPT

Italy attaches primary importance to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and to the full implementation of its provisions, recognizing it as a cornerstone of the global regime for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation and a fundamental landmark for the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Italy strongly believes that any progress in the implementation of the Treaty must take into account the relationship of interdependence and mutual reinforcement amongst its three pillars. In this regard, one of the primary objectives remains the full, comprehensive, and balanced implementation of the concrete measures contained in the 2010 Action Plan. TItaly’s contribution to achieving a safer world free from nuclear weapons, in line with Article VI of the NPT, follows multiple and complementary directions.

With regard to the so-called “Humanitarian Initiative,” Italy shares the concern over the catastrophic consequences associated with the use of nuclear weapons. For this reason, it supports an approach aimed at strengthening the NPT through an incremental and synergistic process among its three pillars, based on the principle of international stability and ultimately pursuing effective, verifiable, and irreversible disarmament.

For Italy, this objective can only be achieved through a progressive approach capable of involving the broadest possible number of relevant actors, starting with the nuclear-armed states. For this reason, while recognizing the ultimate goal of a world free of nuclear weapons and the role played by parliaments and civil society in this context, Italy has from the outset expressed reservations about the initiative leading to the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) — a legal instrument binding only upon its signatories, none of which possess nuclear arms. The debate surrounding the TPNW is also taking place in a context of growing deterioration of the international security architecture, in which Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has further undermined trust among key nuclear stakeholders. Italy has therefore voted against UN General Assembly resolutions promoting the adoption of the TPNW and has not participated, even as an observer, in the first three Meetings of States Parties held in Vienna (2022) and New York (2023 and 2025).

Italy is constantly engaged in creating the appropriate conditions for the implementation of Article VI of the NPT, with a focus on shared elements. Convinced that disarmament and non-proliferation cannot be separated, Italy supports the immediate commencement of negotiations in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) for a treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons and other nuclear explosive devices (FMCT). Pending such a treaty, Italy supports a moratorium on the production of fissile material. Recently, Italy joined a trans-regional group of “Friends of the FMCT,” led by Japan, aimed at giving fresh impetus to the start of negotiations on the FMCT.

Italy also supports the prompt entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). In this regard, between 2021 and 2023, during Italy’s co-presidency of the Article XIV Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the CTBT, eight additional States joined the Treaty.

Among Italy’s other priorities, it is important to highlight the full implementation of a system of Negative Security Assurances and the universalization of the IAEA Additional Protocols on verification and safeguards. Finally, Italy has also consistently worked to help advance the objective of convening a conference on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of weapons of mass destruction, based on agreements freely concluded by the States of the region and with the full support and involvement of the nuclear-weapon States.

Main Statements

Third Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference, New York, April 28 – May 8, 2025:

Amb. Bencini:

Second Preparatory Committee for the 2026 Review Conference, Geneva, July 22 – August 2, 2024:

Amb. Bencini:

Cons. Eugenio Poti