Rappresentanza Permanente d’Italia presso la Conferenza del Disarmo Ginevra

The Conference on Disarmament

The Conference on Disarmament (CD), based in Geneva, is the main permanent multilateral forum for negotiations on disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation. Established in 1979 following the first Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly devoted to disarmament, it brings together 65 Member States, including Italy and all nuclear-weapon States.

While maintaining an institutional relationship with the United Nations, the Conference has its own rules of procedure and adopts its decisions by consensus. Its work is divided into three parts each year, and the Presidency is held on a rotating basis by Member States according to alphabetical order.

The Conference’s agenda comprises seven items: nuclear disarmament; prevention of nuclear war; prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS); negative security assurances; new types of weapons of mass destruction, including radiological weapons; a comprehensive programme of disarmament; and transparency in armaments.

The Conference and the multilateral bodies that preceded it have contributed to the negotiation of some of the major international instruments on disarmament and non-proliferation, including the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Since the adoption of the CTBT in 1996, differences among Member States have prevented the Conference from launching new substantive negotiations, particularly on a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices (Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty – FMCT). Over the years, however, various working formats have been developed to promote substantive dialogue on the main agenda items and to recreate the conditions for the Conference to resume its negotiating function.

The 2026 Session

The 2026 session of the Conference on Disarmament was divided into three parts: from 19 January to 27 March, from 11 May to 26 June, and from 27 July to 11 September. The six Presidencies, exercised according to the principle of alphabetical rotation among Member States, were held by Mongolia, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway and Pakistan.

The session opened under the Presidency of Mongolia. Despite consultations held during the intersessional period and subsequent efforts throughout the year, it was not possible to reach consensus on a programme of work that would have allowed the subsidiary bodies established in 2025 to be reinstated. The Conference therefore continued its work through plenary meetings devoted to the various items on its agenda, under the guidance of the successive Presidencies.

Throughout the year, Member States discussed the main issues before the Conference, including nuclear disarmament and the prevention of nuclear war, the prohibition of the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, negative security assurances, the prevention of an arms race in outer space (PAROS), new types of weapons, and other issues relating to disarmament and the functioning of the Conference.

The difficulties concerning the participation of observer States, which had already emerged during previous sessions, became more pronounced in 2026. Of the requests submitted during the year, 18 received the Conference’s consensus, while 15 were not accepted. In particular, the Russian Federation opposed the participation of numerous European countries, including EU Member States and candidate countries, while Türkiye raised objections to the participation of Cyprus.

The issue of observers therefore assumed increasing importance in the debate on the functioning of the Conference. Numerous States, including Italy and the other European Union Member States, stressed that excluding non-member States from the CD’s work departed from the Conference’s traditional practice of openness and risked further limiting its inclusiveness and effectiveness. The differences over this issue were also reflected in the negotiations on the Annual Report.

Under the Presidency of Pakistan, on 9 September 2026, the Conference adopted its Annual Report by consensus, providing an account of the work conducted during the six Presidencies and of the different positions expressed by Member States on the issues considered during the session.

The Report will be submitted to the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly and considered as part of the work of the First Committee, whose proceedings will open in New York on 5 October 2026. Its adoption concluded a session during which, although it was not possible to reinstate the subsidiary bodies or launch new negotiations, the Conference continued to serve as a permanent forum for dialogue on the main issues of disarmament and international security.

Italy in the Conference on Disarmament

Italy is a member of the Conference on Disarmament and actively participates in its work, supporting the strengthening of multilateralism and the revitalisation of the CD’s negotiating function.

Italy particularly supports the launch of negotiations on a treaty prohibiting the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices, as well as concrete progress on nuclear disarmament, negative security assurances, the prevention of an arms race in outer space, and the new challenges to international security arising from scientific and technological developments.

In its engagement within the Conference, Italy attaches particular importance to dialogue among Member States, the pursuit of consensus, and the CD’s ability to adapt its working methods to the evolving international context, while preserving its role as a multilateral negotiating forum.

Italy’s 2025 Presidency

Italy held the first Presidency of the Conference on Disarmament in 2025, from 20 January to 14 February.

During the Italian Presidency, the Conference adopted by consensus Decision CD/2443, which established the programme of work and created five subsidiary bodies covering the main items on the Conference’s agenda. The adoption of the decision as early as January, for the first time since 1996, enabled the subsidiary bodies to work throughout the 2025 session, holding more than thirty meetings and ensuring structured discussions across the Conference’s entire agenda.

This outcome represented an important effort to restore continuity and structure to the substantive work of the Conference and to contribute to the gradual rebuilding of the conditions necessary for the resumption of its negotiating function.

Main Statements

2026

Amb. Tomaso Pietro Marchegiani