4th Meeting, Preparatory Committee of the 7th Review Conference CCW

Okay. So, meeting is called to order. Excellencies, distinguished colleagues, distinguished delegates, we are now turning to agenda item 9, and I would like to begin our exchanges on financial issues without further delay. I would like to give the floor for that to the head of the CCW-ISU, Mrs. Nora Algaier. She will brief us on the overall financial situation of the Convention. Mrs. Algaier, you have the floor.

Thank you, Chair. I am pleased to provide a brief update on the financial situation of the Convention and apologies in advance for the many and long numbers that will follow, so please bear with me. With regard to the 2026 budget, a total of $1,449,555 has been received from high contracting parties as of 31 August 2026. Against the total amount billed of $1,565,600, this leaves $116,045 outstanding. I'm therefore pleased to report that the collection rate for 2026 currently stands at 92.6%. We would like to thank all high contracting parties that have already paid their 2026 assessed contributions. And assessed contribution for 2026 have been due since 1st of February 2026, so high contracting parties that have not yet done so are kindly requested to settle their assessment in full and as soon as possible. Turning to the 2025 financial year, I would like to inform delegations that the CCW accounts were closed on 1st of September 2026. Assessed contributions collected amounted to 96.7% of the 2025 budget. Any resulting credits will be reflected in the preliminary assessment invoices for 2027. It is encouraging to note that the average year-end collection rate for the period 2022 to 2025 stands at 96.3%, a clear indication that the financial measures adopted at the Sixth Review Conference are working. Nonetheless, for this period, outstanding contributions for the Convention are still due in the amount of 201,895 dollars. High Contracting Parties with outstanding contributions are kindly requested to settle them as soon as possible. A breakdown of these outstanding contributions per year can be found on the financial dashboard. With regard to the Voluntary Working Capital Fund established by the 2019 Meeting of High Contracting Parties to provide liquidity during the financial year and help ensure the continuity of the ISU support to the Convention, I am pleased to report that as of 31 August 2026, the fund balance stood at $494,914, representing approximately 80% of the target level of the fund. High Contracting Parties in a position to do so are encouraged to make voluntary contributions to the Working Capital Fund, and those with overpayments of the assessed contributions may wish to consider transferring those overpayments to the fund. An official document on the status of financial contributions will be submitted by the ISU to the Seventh Review Conference, and the ISU will also report on the estimated and actual costs of the meetings and conferences held in 2025. The ISU continues to provide monthly updates to High Contracting Parties on the status of assessed contributions by e-mail, and I think you have received one like this yesterday. And detailed information on the status of payments by individual countries can be found on the financial dashboard of the Disarmament Conventions, which also contains information on the voluntary contributions to the Working Capital Fund. The ISU remains, of course, available to provide further information on financial matters and will coordinate with colleagues from UNOC's Financial Resource Management Services as appropriate. And delegations are, of course, also free to contact the Financial Resource Management Services directly at unocfinances@un.org. For ease of reference, especially for all the long numbers, this statement will also be made available on the web page of the Preparatory Committee. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you very much, Mrs. Al-Ghayar, for your briefing and for the information that you just gave us. As we are all aware, the Sixth Review Conference adopted consolidated financial measures, including a multi-year budgeting approach. We affirmed the established cost-sharing formula based on the adjusted UN scale of assessments and emphasized the need for timely payment of assessed contributions to ensure the effective functioning of the Convention and its meetings. As we begin preparations for the Seventh Review Conference, it will be important to assess the implementation of these measures and to consider how best to ensure the predictability, stability, and sustainability of the Convention's financial framework over the next review cycle. To facilitate our discussions, I would therefore invite the Secretariat to prepare an informal paper on the implementation of the financial measures adopted by the Sixth Review Conference and to provide indicative cost estimates for the next five-year budget cycle. Such a paper could serve as a basis for further discussions during the intersessional period and inform the preparation of possible recommendations and decisions for consideration by the Seventh Review Conference. I would also encourage delegations to reflect on ways to strengthen the timely payment of assessed contributions, which remains essential for the effective functioning of the Convention and its meetings. In addition, delegations may wish to reflect on whether the current structure and resources of the ISU remain commensurate with the scope, complexity and volume of work entrusted to it since its establishment in 2009. This issue should be considered in the context of ensuring that the Convention continues to receive effective, efficient and sustainable support in the years ahead, including in relation to any future mandate that High Contracting Parties may decide to entrust to the Convention. So, after those comments, consideration and information, I would like to open the floor for any comments, remarks that you might have regarding this item of our agenda. The floor is open. I recognize the distinguished representative of the United States. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Chair. And we also wanted to express our thanks to the Secretary for this update and report. And just to say, we also support the idea of preparing the paper that you described for our consideration over the intersessional period. We support the need to keep this issue sort of at the front of mind as we're considering the work of the CCW over the course of the next five years. We're very happy that the measures that have been put in place, which required quite a lot of work, as I think many will remember, in earlier years, have worked. And to the extent that this continues to be a good, solid basis for moving forward, I think our ultimate objective is just, as you said, Chair, to ensure that we have an effective, sustainable process to support the ongoing work of this group and, in particular, the tremendous support that we get from the ISU and from others, and want to make sure that we keep our eye on that and that we don't do anything to risk that. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the United States for his remarks and propositions, and I give the floor now to the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. You have the floor, sir.

Distinguished Chair, the Russian Federation welcomes the steps taken by the ISU to monitor the financial situation of the Inhumane Weapons Convention, implementation of consolidated financial measures that were adopted by the Sixth Review Conference, as well as targeted work with States Parties to the Convention that still have outstanding debts. We still believe that the best way to resolve the financial issues related to the CCW would be a timely payment of annual contributions by all parties to the Convention in full. We urge all States Parties to be responsible in the implementation of their financial obligations under the Convention. In all of this, we believe that it is not possible to impose any sanctions against debtor countries, any limitations related to the full-fledged participation in the work of the Convention, for example, the presentation of candidates. to fill in vacant posts or participation in taking decisions under the Convention will only lead to disunity amongst States Parties and will not help restore financial discipline. Russian Federation knows first hand that sometimes it becomes or is very hard to ensure payments of contributions to the budget of the Convention due to the introduction of illegal unilateral sanctions, and my country also faces problems in sending money to the budget of the Convention. And we try to resolve these problems individually, working with the relevant financial services. We must ensure the further or continued implementation of the financial rules, consolidated financial measures that were adopted in 2021, and the procedures that are provided by these measures made it possible to ensure the financial stability of the CCW, uninterrupted holding of planned meetings, and the stable functioning of the ISU. What is also important is to ensure transparency in the question of financial contributions and expenditures. We believe that it is advisable to continue the practice of presenting reports on the situation of financial contributions by States Parties to the CCW, and also estimate and factual expenditures related to the work under the Convention. We welcome the fact that relevant materials of the ICJ will be prepared for the review conference with your coordination efforts, Chair, and States Parties will be able to look at those documents during the review conference. Distinguished Chair, the Russian Federation is in favour of priority spending of CCW budget resources to ensure support to the contracts of ISU staff. We support keeping the ISU within UNODA, with direct financing and control by Member States, States Parties to the Convention. Now, since the adoption in 2009 of a relevant decision, the Implementation Support Unit has demonstrated that it is an effective mechanism that provides tangible support to States in the organization of all of the work under the CCW. We are ready to continue the discussions of any possible options related to further improving the financial situation of the Convention. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished delegate of the Russian Federation for his intervention. And I give now the floor to the distinguished representative of Belarus. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much, distinguished Chair. Since it is the first time we are taking the floor, We welcome your nomination, and we congratulate you on being the chair of this very important group, and we wish you full success, and we will provide you with all the necessary support. We welcome the efforts of the Implementation Support Unit related to the organization of the funding of the Convention, as well as the different events related to the upcoming Review Conference. We do believe that States Parties should demonstrate strict financial discipline and a timely payment of contributions and implementation of financial obligations is an important part of compliance with the Convention, and we know directly about the difficulties that exist that are not really related to the Convention, but are related to the implementation of financial obligations, something that the Russian delegation just referred to. And we also would like to say that all of these matters are resolved on a case-by-case basis, and, of course, we would really welcome ways to ensure that no delegation would face such problems. so that all of these questions will be resolved without any disruptions to the regime of the Convention.

I thank the distinguished representative of Belarus for his intervention. And for the moment, i do not see any other delegation wishing to take the floor. So I guess no other delegation wishes to take the floor. under this agenda item. So I thank the delegations for sharing their views on these also important questions. Based on today's discussion and the forthcoming informal paper by the Secretariat on financial issues, I suggest that we continue our exchanges on this topic during the inter-sessional period, including on the implementation of the financial measures. the five-year cost estimates and ways to ensure the long-term sustainability of the Convention. These discussions should assist us in developing informed recommendations and draft decisions for consideration by the seventh review conference. So, let us now turn to agenda item 10, any other business. Any delegation wishing to raise any other business under item 10? I see the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. You have the floor.

Distinguished Chair, The Russian Federation welcomes the efforts aimed at modernizing the Internet portal of the CCW Convention and simplifying access to information, materials, documents related to the different events under the Convention. We take note of the relevant work that was carried out by UNODA and by the ISU. the fact that there has been improvement in the functioning of the Internet portal in comparison to 2021, when we raised this issue the last time. At the same time, we must point out that the question of quick and convenient access to materials related to the Convention still remains open. In difference from the situation related to other international treaties on the same issues, the Inhumane Weapons Convention, in fact, does not have its own web page. And information related to the participation in the Convention, national reports, contribution statements, final reports, and all other documents All of these documents are available in different resources, which really creates difficulties in our work with operational information, and this is a problem faced by all States Parties to the Convention. This situation does not contribute to the universalization of the Convention makes it difficult for other countries to join the Convention, and still other difficulties remain in our work with the materials that are available on the hosting website of UNODA. And unfortunately, final versions of the reports of the different events are not always available on this website, in particular There's no final version of the report of the meeting of States Parties from 2024. Not all hyperlinks are functioning. Also, very often we cannot find any materials in other languages except in English, including our own mother tongue Russian. All of this significantly complicates the work of experts and specialists with these materials and our work with all of the questions that are on the agenda of the CCW. In this respect, we believe it would be necessary to consider this issue during the review conference. in order to instruct the Implementation Support Unit to resolve in a timely manner all outstanding technical problems and ensure that the Internet portal has all of the documents related to the CCW in all UN official languages, with free access to this website of all States Parties. the website of the CCW should have one single, whole, consolidated web page in order to be a very convenient tool for all users. In this respect, we would like to address the Implementation Support Unit with a request to publish materials in a timely fashion after the different events that are organized under the CCW, and also before the seventh review conference take place, to study all of these issues that were raised by my delegation. in order to be in a position to discuss all of these matters directly and consider them during the seventh review conference and take the necessary decisions and recommendations in order to overcome the difficulties that we just mentioned as part of the next review cycle under the Convention. Thank you.

I would like to thank the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation.

And seeing no further request for the floor, oh, there is one from the representative of the United States.

You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Chair. So we actually didn't intend to take the floor during this particular agenda item, but The intervention by the delegation from the Russian Federation, we found quite interesting. And for many of us who also have to grapple with these kinds of information management issues in our own national governments, we find little to disagree with in the suggestions from the Russian Federation about how to make website and information access more efficient, and potentially more multilingual. But just connecting this set of suggestions to the conversation that we just finished having about the financial aspects, we would be interested in, to the extent that there is going to be some effort to explore the kinds of improvements that were suggested by the Russian Federation, understanding a little bit more how The website development for the CCW relates to website development more broadly across UNODA, whether there would be budget implications for this particular body if we were going to take on these kinds of improvements. Again, having had a little bit of experience doing this at a national level, one thing that I'm always surprised to see, or maybe I shouldn't be so surprised to see, is how much these things can cost. And so we are interested in this. in this idea, but we would also like to think about it and understand it in the broader context of what’s achievable and how it would have an impact on costs. Thank you.

I would like to thank the distinguished representative of the United States for his statement and question. And for the time being, I see no further requests for the floor from any delegation.

So, given there are no further requests for the floor, we're going to move on to the next item on the agenda, to wit, item 11.

The report of the preparatory committee to the review conference. The draft report of the was circulated on the 26 August 2026 by the CCWISU on my behalf. via e-mail under the symbol CCW/CONF.7/PC/CRP.1. And I've circulated through the Secretariat a revised version of the draft final report earlier today, during the lunch break, under CCW/CONF.7/PC/CRP.1/Rev.1. The document has also been made available on the UNODA meetings place. I am sure that by now all of us have had the opportunity to go through the document. This draft has been prepared in accordance with the established practice of previous Review Conference preparatory processes. In section 1, the draft report recalls the decisions that led to the convening of the seventh Review Conference and its Preparatory Committee, including the decision adopted at the 2025 meeting of the High Contracting Parties to hold the Preparatory Committee in September 2026 and the Review Conference in November 2026. It also reflects subsequent developments relating to the nomination of the President-designate of the Review Conference. In section 2, the draft report outlines the various organizational aspects of the Preparatory Committee, including the opening of the meeting, the composition of the Secretariat, and the participation to the work of the Preparatory Committee. In section 3, the draft report outlines the work undertaken by the Preparatory Committee under specific agenda items. It also contains paragraphs recording the adoption of the agenda, the programme of work and the rules of procedure of the Preparatory Committee. Importantly, in section 4, the draft contains recommendations for the organization of the seventh review conference, including the provisional agenda and the provisional programme of work of the review conference, the provisional agendas and programmes of work of the main committees, the draft rules of procedure, the nomination for office holders and arrangements concerning the Secretariat. These recommendations are intended to ensure that the Review Conference is able to commence its work in an efficient and orderly manner. Section 5 refers to the official documents of the Preparatory Committee, which have been considered during the meeting. Section 6 records the adoption of the document by the Preparatory Committee and its issuance as the final report as document CCW/CONF.7/PC/3. Annex 1 contains the provisional agenda of the Seventh Review Conference, and Annex 2, the provisional programme of work, which will both have to be recommended by the Preparatory Committee. Annex 3 contains the provisional agenda of Main Committee I, and Annex 4, the provisional programme of work of Main Committee I. Annex 5 contains the provisional agenda of Main Committee II, and Annex 6, the provisional programme of work of Main Committee II. Finally, Annex 7 provides the list of documents submitted and considered by the Preparatory Committee. All these documents are available online on the UNODA Meetings Place webpage of the Preparatory Committee. So we now are going to go also section by section of the draft report, and I now invite your attention to the introduction section, paragraph 1 through 6. Regarding those six first paragraphs, I would like to ask you if you have any comments on any parts of this section. So, may I take that the introduction is adopted? It is so decided. I now invite you to consider the organization of the Preparatory Committee, section, paragraph 7 to 14. Delegations are invited to look in detail at paragraph 7 to 14 In case your delegation is not listed in one of those paragraphs, please reach out to the Secretariat. Are there any comments on any part of this section? United States. I see and recognize the distinguished representative of the United States. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you, Chair. So I know this group does have a tendency to continue to work on reports past midnight and into the following day. It doesn't look like we're going to be in that position here, but we are noting that there are references to dates in paragraph 7, 7 to 9, September, and it does sound, seem like we will be done earlier than that. So just noting that we may need to make an adjustment to that date. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the United States for his remark, and it is well noted that it might be modified according to the time when we finish our discussion. Yes, and just also to be more precise regarding the paragraph 7, we might also change the number of meetings that we will be holding. I'm not sure that we will hold six meetings of the Preparatory Committee. So with those changes, we make the changes in the text. And so may I take it that the organization of the Preparatory Committee section is so adopted? It is so decided. I now invite you to consider the work of the Preparatory Committee section, paragraph 15 to 20. This section provides a record of the principal items considered during our three days of work, or maybe two days of work. Paragraph 15 records the adoption of the agenda and programme of work of the Preparatory Committee, as well as the confirmation of the Rules of Procedure. Are there any comments on this paragraph? This is not the case. Paragraph 16 records the delegations that participated in the general exchange of views. Paragraph 17 records our consideration of preparation for Main Committee I. and lists the delegations that participated in the discussion under this agenda item. Paragraph 18 records our consideration of preparations for Main Committee II. It also records the presentation made by Ambassador Robert In den Bosch of the Netherlands, chairperson of the Group of Governmental Experts on Emerging Technologies in the Area of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems, on the work of the group. The paragraph lists the delegations that participated in the discussion. In case some of the delegations are missing in this paragraph, please raise your nameplate or reach out to the Secretariat. Paragraph 19 reflects our consideration for financial issues. It records the presentation by the CCW Implementation Support Unit on the financial status of the Convention, as well as the Committee's encouragement to High Contracting Parties and Observer States to pay their annual assessed contributions without delay and in full. Paragraph 20 records the Committee's agreement under any other business that the relevant decisions of the fifth Review Conference concerning summary records will continue to be implemented. Are there any comments on these last paragraphs? This is not the case, so may I take it that section 3? Yes. I recognize the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. I think we still have a problem of switching off my mic. So I think as long as my mic is not switched off, you will not be able to intervene. I'm very sorry for that. So thank you for your patience. I'm sure that we will find a solution soon. So, I think I invite the delegations to take a pause. We reconvene as soon as possible, as soon as this technical problem is solved. Thank you. Hello.

The microphone is on. Just like in.

Oh, it's not a secret. I was 100% sure that we.

Yeah. Yeah, it might be that you haven't. Have you submitted the delegates? Yeah, just send us a note about it, if that's possible. If possible, that would be great. And then we add you in the meantime. It would be good to have it in records to have to know. Yeah, good. So we add you. We have to also check our system and see whether that's an omission on our side. Yeah. I can confirm that.

That's what I thought.

So then they're probably not listed on the list of participants either. Ah, yeah, so you're here under the participant. Yeah, but we didn't. Yeah, exactly, but we didn't. Exactly, but not here. Okay. We'll add you. And then as soon as you can confirm that. I think the secretary is coming. Okay.

Then we'll fix it the first time.

Perfect. Okay, thank you. Apparently, that's not intentional. It's because of that we have to reconvene tomorrow. I'll have to check with the other colleague.

Test anglais, 1, 2, 3 anglais. On fait tout comme ça. Okay. Yes, the good news is that we can resume our session. So, and I think it was a technical problem affecting many rooms in the Palais des Nations, so there has been no discrimination against this specific discussion in our group or our meeting. So, the word is to you, the distinguished delegate of the Russian Federation. You have the floor.

Thank you very much, distinguished Chair. We would like to seek a clarification. Do we understand correctly that in paragraph 19, you intend to add the names of the delegations that took the floor on the question or item financial issues, including the delegation of the Russian Federation? Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation, and yes, it will be the case. So, may I take it that section 3 as a whole is adopted with the changes that we just spoke about? It is so decided. I now invite you to consider section 4, entitled "Organization of the Seventh Review Conference", paragraph 21 to 29. This section reflects the recommendations and decisions of the Preparatory Committee concerning the organization of the Review Conference. Paragraph 21 records the endorsement by the Preparatory Committee of the provisional agenda of the Seventh Review Conference, which is reproduced in Annex 1 and will be issued as document CCW/CONF.7/1. Paragraph 22 records the Committee's agreement to recommend for consideration by the Review Conference the provisional programme of work of the Seventh Review Conference contained in Annex II and to be issued as document CCW/CONF.7/2. Are there any comments regarding paragraph 21 and 22? Paragraph 23 concerns the Rules of Procedure of the Seventh Review Conference. It records the Committee's agreement to recommend the Rules of Procedure used at the sixth and fifth review conferences as contained in document CCW/CONF.5/4. Are there any comments on paragraph 21? Paragraph 24 concerns the vice-presidents of the seventh review conference and records the High Contracting Parties that the Preparatory Committee has agreed to recommend for these positions. Are there any comments on paragraph 24? Paragraph 25 records the nominations that the Preparatory Committee has agreed to recommend for the other office-holders of the Seventh Review Conference, namely the chairpersons of Main Committee II, the Drafting Committee, the Credentials Committee, and the vice-chairperson of the Credentials Committee. Are there any comments on paragraph 25? Paragraph 26 addresses any remaining vacancies among the office holders. It requests the President-designate to continue informal consultations with the regional groups during the intersessional period on the nomination of remaining office holders and to keep High Contracting Parties informed of the outcome of those consultations. Are there any comments regarding paragraph 26. Paragraph 27 records the Committee's agreement to recommend Mrs. Mélanie Renjimballe, Chief of Service of the UN Office for Disarmament, Geneva Branch, as Provisional Secretary-General of the Seventh Review Conference. Are there any comments on paragraph 27? Paragraph 28 records the Committee’s agreement to recommend the provisional agenda and provisional programme of work of Main Committee I of the Seventh Review Conference. Similarly, paragraph 29 records the Committee’s agreement to recommend the provisional agenda and provisional programme of work of Main Committee II. Are there any comments regarding paragraphs 28 and 29? So, may I take it that section 4 as a whole is adopted?

Yes.

I recognize the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much, distinguished Chair. We have a purely technical suggestion related to the title of annex 6 that is referred to in paragraph 29. we would like to ask, just like in other annexes 4 and 5, and just as we see in paragraph 29, to add to the title of annex 6 to say "of the seventh review conference". So, the provisional programme of work of Main Committee II. of the seventh review conference. Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation for his remark and proposition. We will do so. Thank you. So may I take it that section 4 as a whole is adopted? It seems to be the case. It is so decided. Let us now turn to section 5, entitled "Documentation". Paragraph 30 indicates that the list of official documents of the Preparatory Committee is contained in Annex 7 and provides information on where the documents of the Committee can be accessed electronically. May I take it that paragraph 30 is adopted? Seems to be the case. It is so decided. So before going to section 6, I will invite you to consider the annexes of the final report. Annex 1 contains the provisional agenda of the Seventh Review Conference, and Annex 2, the provisional programme of work, which will both have to be recommended by the Preparatory Committee Annex 3 contains the provisional agenda of the Main Committee I, and Annex 4, the provisional programme of work of Main Committee I. Annex 5 contains the provisional agenda of Main Committee II, and Annex 6, the provisional programme of work of Main Committee II. Finally, Annex 7 provides the list of documents submitted and considered by the Preparatory Committee. All these documents are available online on the UNODA Meetings Place webpage. of the Preparatory Committee. May I take it that the seven annexes of the final report are adopted? It seems to be the case. It is so decided. Let me now turn to section 6, adoption of the final report, in its paragraph 20, which is 31. May I take it that the draft report as a whole contained in document CCW/CONF.7/PC/CRP.1, rev. 1, is adopted? I see the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation. You have the floor, sir.

Thank you very much, distinguished Chair. In paragraph 31, we will have to change the date. 8 September, and of course add the words "as orally amended". Thank you.

I thank the distinguished representative of the Russian Federation for his suggestion. We will do so. So it seems to be the case the final report is so adopted. Dear colleagues, we have now come to the conclusion of our meeting. Thank you very much. Is there any delegation that would like to take the floor at this time to make a statement?

Very well, since that is not the case, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, delegates, dear colleagues, now as we arrive at the conclusion of the work of the Preparatory Committee of the Seventh Review Conference of the CCW, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all delegations for their active participation, constructive engagement, and the spirit of cooperation that they have demonstrated during the last two days. These meetings made it possible for us to achieve significant progress as we prepare for the seventh review conference. If some organizational or procedural issues remain outstanding, then we will continue our exchanges during the upcoming weeks and we'll move forward in a constructive, pragmatic manner and a future-oriented perspective. This will create a solid foundation for the continuation of our work in order to ensure that the Review Conference in November can focus on issues of substance that are on the agenda. The Preparatory Committee gave us a very valuable opportunity to review the main questions of substance that require attention during the Review Conference with a view of reaching agreements. The exchanges that took place over the last few days helped us identify the priorities, understand better different perspectives, and lay the foundation for the continuation of our work during the intersessional period as we approach the November Conference. The discussions set the ongoing commitment of Contracting Parties in favour of the objectives of the Convention and with a view of ensuring the success of the Conference. There's a lot of very important work that lies ahead of us, but I'm encouraged in spirit of cooperation and constructive approaches, something that I believe will be demonstrated during the upcoming weeks. As President-designate of the Conference, I intend to work in a consultative, inclusive, and transparent manner. in close cooperation with the Bureau and all delegations that are interested in this work. So I'll continue my contacts with delegations in the upcoming weeks in order to share with them my ideas for the period of time before the Conference, especially ways to move forward, and to look at questions that still remain outstanding. And I'm very pleased to work with you in close cooperation. Before the review conference, I'd like to sincerely thank the Secretariat, conference services, interpreters, technicians, security staff, and all of those who showed professionalism and commitment to ensure the success of our work. Finally, I'd like to once again thank all delegations for their commitment and their flexibility during these two days. I wish all of you a very good evening, and those of you going back home, a very safe trip. I will be very happy to see you in November in Geneva at the seventh review conference. The meeting is closed.