ASTANA. Jan 11 (Interfax) - Kazakhstan will promote the prevention and eradication of a threat of global war as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
"Kazakhstan's efforts in the Security Council will comprehensively foster conditions which will prevent and eradicate the threat of global war through the reduction of military standoff levels on the global and regional levels," Nazarbayev said in his political address to the UN Security Council.
The address, which defined political priorities and practical elements of Kazakhstan's activity as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2017-2018, has been released by the Kazakh Foreign Ministry.
"We believe that peace and renunciation of war as a way of settling interstate problems are the central issue of mankind's survival in the 21st century. In this context, Kazakhstan is set to promote the fulfillment of its manifesto, 'The World. The 21st Century', which contains an algorithm of joint efforts towards ending conflicts and violence," Nazarbayev said.
Kazakhstan stands for further improvement of the UN peacekeeping system and intends to enlarge the number of its military observers and peacekeepers in UN missions.
"In the period of our activity at the Security Council, we are set to make a strong contribution to the peaceful settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli standoff and conflicts in the Middle East, Afghanistan and on the CIS space, de-escalation of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, and resolution of crises in Africa and Asia," the Kazakh president said.
Kazakhstan, which was the world's first to shut down the Semipalatinsk nuclear testing range a quarter of a century ago and liquidated a vast nuclear arsenal, deems a nuclear-free world to be a keynote issue of mankind's survival, he said.
"We intend to continue consolidation of international efforts towards ridding the planet of nuclear weapons through the consistent strengthening and expansion of the non-proliferation regime and the strict fulfillment of UN Security Council resolution 1540," the president said.
"Kazakhstan hails agreements on the Iranian nuclear program and their implementation and will call for applying this model to every similar situation and crisis. We are prepared for active interaction with the Council's coordination on resolution 2231," he said.
"The Republic of Kazakhstan deems the soonest possible constructive resolution of the nuclear arms problem of the Korean Peninsula to be an important task in this context and stands for the immediate resumption of multilateral negotiations on this matter," Nazarbayev said.
"Ideally, Kazakhstan urges all UN member states, especially permanent members of the Security Council, to rid the world of nuclear weapons by the UN centenary to be marked in 2045," he said.