[…] Number one for the first time since the end of the Cold War we are now facing a nuclear threat. A threat of a nuclear conflict. And I am naturally referring to the developments in relation to nuclear weapons and long-range missiles by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea: a development made in total contradiction to the will of the international community and in clear violation of several resolutions of the Security Council.
It is important to note that the unity that the Security Council has been able to demonstrate the will of the international community and has been able to put through sanctions a very meaningful pressure over North Korea, and that pressure in my opinion is absolutely essential to be maintained.
But the pressure also creates the opportunity for diplomatic engagement aiming at the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula; a denuclearization that I believe we all want to be peaceful and within the framework of a regional security framework.
It is true that in recent weeks we witness an improvement in Korean relations. […]
If one looks at Syria, after the hopes created by the de-escalation that has reduced the conflict in several areas of the country, the truth is that we are now seeing a reignition of that same conflict in Idlib and in eastern Ghouta, with dramatic humanitarian consequences. We have seen the Turkish operation in Afrin. We have seen chemical weapons again reappearing. We see risks of fragmentation of the country. […]
We are totally committed to relaunch the Geneva process, finding a political solution for Syria – the intra-Syrian dialogue in Geneva – now that in Sochi, it was possible – and I have to pay tribute to the Russian Federation on this – to fully abide by the engagements that were taken and to guarantee that Sochi was not a parallel process, but on the contrary, was reaffirming the role of Geneva, and channeling into Geneva the results of what was decided there, fully in line with Security Council resolution 2254. Läs talet