GENEVA, Switzerland, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- U.N. officials in Geneva expressed disappointment that an international negotiation forum on disarmament was at risk because of a lack of member progress.
Sergei Ordzhonikidze, the U.N. secretary-general of the Conference on Disarmament, said he was very disappointed in the lack of progress toward multilateral disarmament.
Progress at the Conference on Disarmament this year, he said, was "not even zero, it was minus" as member states failed to adopt a working platform for talks this year.
The forum was established in 1979 to encourage member states to embrace arms control and negotiate disarmament agreements.
Nuclear-armed Pakistani said it would not embrace measures at the conference, saying it needs to maintain a defensive posture to counter the threat from India.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in an address to the 65-member panel in January said 2010 should be a historic year for disarmament and non-proliferation efforts.
Instead, Ordzhonikidze said, the Conference on Disarmament has been unable to move forward with negotiations.
"We have done nothing," he said.
His stern comments come as Washington tries to restart disarmament talks with Russia.
Ordzhonikidze said the panel would take up the matter again Tuesday.
