UN General Assembly
1997

﻿Let me first of all congratulate the President on his well- deserved election. It is a source of satisfaction to us that the President of his country, Ukraine, Mr. Leonid Kuchma, is on this very day starting a state visit to Mexico. To the Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, we extend our sincere gratitude for the extremely dynamic way in which he is discharging his important responsibilities, and particularly for his significant contribution to the process of reform of the Organization. The work of this session of the General Assembly will cover the main items on the international agenda. Allow me to begin this statement by referring to those which are of particular significance to my country. In relation to the topic of disarmament, significant steps have recently been taken. Some prominent ones have been the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear- Test-Ban Treaty, the approval of a Convention prohibiting 22 anti-personnel mines, and the forthcoming conclusion of an inter-American convention against the illicit traffic in arms, munitions and explosives. Also prominent at the regional level are the efforts the