Arms Control (Hansard, 12 December 1991)

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the current status of(a) the 1963 partial test ban treaty, (b) the 1987 intermediate nuclear forces treaty of Washington, (c) the 1991 strategic arms reduction treaty and (d) the 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty following the declaration of an independent common-wealth of slavic states on 8 December by Ukraine, Russia and Byelorussia.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The current status of these treaties is unchanged. We welcome recent statements by the Presidents of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus that they will honour the international treaty obligations of the Soviet Union. We are making it clear directly to the authorities concerned that we attach the highest importance to the effective implementation of these obligations.

§ Mr. Flynn
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs when Her Majesty's Government(a) signed and (b) ratified the conventional forces in Europe treaty; what implications the declaration on 8 December of the establishment of a commonwealth of independent slavic states has for this treaty; and if he has any plans to meet the leadership of the Ukrainian, Russian and Byelorussian republics to evaluate the future of the CFE treaty.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
The United Kingdom signed the treaty on conventional armed forces in Europe on 19 November 1990 and ratified it on 19 November 1991. We are still studying the implications for the treaty of the declaration made on 8 December by Russia, the Ukraine 497W and Byelorussia, and are consulting our allies and the other treaty signatories. The political director in the Foreign Office will discuss this issue when he visits the three republics on 12–15 December. It remains our intention that the CFE treaty should be fully implemented throughout the area in respect of which the Soviet Union undertook the obligations, except the Baltic states.

Mr. O'Neill
To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will make a statement on the nature of the informal consultations that have started on the agenda for arms control, following the planned Helsinki review conference; who has been consulted; and what subjects have been discussed in the course of these consultations.

§ Mr. Douglas Hogg
At the CSCE Council of Ministers in Berlin on 19–20 June, Ministers requested their representatives in Vienna to begin informal preparatory consultations to prepare for a new process of arms control talks which would begin after the Helsinki follow-up meeting in March-July next year. These consultations began in September, and are open to all CSCE participants. Discussions have so far focused on the structure of a new forum bringing together arms control talks, a security dialogue, and the existing conflict prevention centre; and on issues that might be the subject of negotiation after the Helsinki meeting.