UN General Assembly
1989

We welcome the favourable developments that have emerged from the disarmament negotiations in Vienna and Geneva. The numbers now on the table can be qualified as quite spectacular. The reduction of the level of armaments must be established in a balanced and reciprocal manner, and it must be accompanied by absolutely trustworthy verification mechanisms. Those are the prerequisites for an even more comprehensive disarmament process. We also welcome President Mikhail Gorbachev's reference to the possibility of a "defensive defence", that is, a disarmament process that renders any attack impossible and that, at the same time, continues to guarantee effective defence utilizing the most modern weapons at the lowest possible level of deployment. That is precisely what we have always tried to achieve. Indeed, our primary goal is to arrive at a state of defence that is mutually and sufficiently deterrent with the smallest possible arsenal, thereby creating maximum stability and security.