UN General Assembly
1969

Nations can only exercise a limited influence, the Swedish Government is convinced that the Organization has acquired increased importance as a forum for long-term peaceful co-operation. This applies in the first instance to the disarmament efforts. 17. There has been very little success so far this year in the field of disarmament. The hopes of considerable progress towards nuclear disarmament which were raised last year at the time of the conclusion of the Treaty on the Non- Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons [resolution 2373 (XXII)] have not been fulfilled. This can be partly explained by the fact that the coming into force of that treaty has been delayed. Only when its principal originators, the Soviet Union and the United States, have ratified the treaty, will we come closer to this goal. 18. The world also waits with growing impatience for the two great nuclear Powers to begin their bilateral talks on the limitation of missile systems. We hope that those negotiations will take place soon. 19. If little or no progress can be registered in the field of