From January 19 to February 13, 2026, Mongolia held the position of Chair of the Conference on Disarmament (CD). This was reported by MiddleAsianNews.
During this period, the Permanent Mission of Mongolia to the United Nations and other international organizations in Geneva actively worked to promote mutual understanding and achieve consensus among CD participants.
On January 20, in Geneva, Gerelmaa Davaasuren, the Permanent Representative of Mongolia to the UN, expressed gratitude to the member states for their trust in her opening speech. She confirmed that the chairmanship would be conducted with fairness, transparency, and a constructive approach. Davaasuren also noted the importance of 2026 for international disarmament negotiations, emphasizing the Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the need to intensify discussions on new weapon systems.
This responsible position provides member states of the Conference with a unique opportunity once every ten years. In this context, Mongolia, as the first chairing country this year, contributed to the formation of the agenda and work program of the Conference, as well as the consideration of requests from observer states.
During Mongolia's chairmanship, the Conference approved the agenda for the current year and endorsed the participation of 16 states as observers. Mongolia also organized an official plenary session to discuss pressing issues of international peace and security. The participation of Thomas DiNanno, the U.S. Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, further underscored the significance and relevance of the conference.
Mongolia actively worked on adopting a draft work program that had remained unadopted for 30 years due to disagreements among member states. In this direction, more than 20 bilateral meetings were held, as well as ten rounds of informal multilateral consultations and eight official and informal plenary sessions. Although consensus on the draft decision regarding the Conference's work in 2026 was not reached, representatives of member states expressed gratitude to Mongolia for its responsible and proactive leadership during this particularly challenging geopolitical period.
In accordance with its peaceful and open foreign policy, Mongolia constructively and principled fulfilled its duties as Chair of the Conference on Disarmament. This participation demonstrates Mongolia's contribution to addressing acute regional and global issues, including promoting efforts for the non-proliferation of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction.
At the first meeting, participants wished Mongolia success, emphasizing that the role of the Conference on Disarmament is becoming increasingly relevant in the current geopolitical situation. They noted the need to renew political will to overcome the prolonged deadlock in the Conference's work.
The Conference on Disarmament is the only multilateral forum for negotiations on disarmament issues in the world. The chairmanship of the Conference is held in turn by member states, each of which occupies this position for four weeks. After Mongolia's chairmanship (from January 19 to February 1) in 2026, the next countries to take this position will be: Morocco (from February 16 to March 13), the Netherlands (from March 16 to 27 and from May 11 to 22), Nigeria (from May 25 to June 19), Norway (from June 22 to 26 and from July 27 to August 14), and Pakistan (from August 17 to September 11).
