US Mission Geneva

We’ve weathered great storms together. I know this is a time of uncertainty. I ask you not to be diminished by the crosscurrents that are flowing through the world today because I’m convinced – and I really believe this – I see the world – I see the glass as definitively half full, not half empty.

The Thirtieth Session of the Special Verification Commission under the Treaty Between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics on the Elimination of Their Intermediate-Range and Shorter-Range Missiles (INF Treaty) took place in Geneva, Switzerland, November 15-16.

The United States shares the concerns that have been expressed by other UN Member States regarding the threat of chemical and biological terrorism.

A treaty banning nuclear weapons will not lead to any further reductions because it will not include the states that possess nuclear weapons.

President Obama: “We must reject any forms of fundamentalism, or racism, or a belief in ethnic superiority that makes our traditional identities irreconcilable with modernity.”

The United States call on the DPRK to refrain from actions and rhetoric that further raise tensions in the region and focus instead on taking concrete steps toward fulfilling its commitments and international obligations.

The report confirms that the Syrian regime is responsible for the repeated use of chemical weapons in Syria. Such use is a violation of UN Security Council Resolution 2118, a violation of Syria’s obligations as a state party to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC), and a violation of well-established international standards and norms against chemical weapons use.

The United States condemns in the strongest terms the vicious attack today in Kabul that killed dozens of Afghans and wounded many more. We send our deepest condolences to the loved ones of those killed and injured, and we offer President Ghani whatever assistance he may require as his government investigates and works to bring the murderers to justice.

The Foreign and Defense Ministers of the Counter-ISIL (Da’esh) Coalition Small Group, Military Coalition and members that have made major non-military contributions met today in Washington at the invitation of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter to build momentum and accelerate the multi-front campaign to defeat Da’esh in Iraq and Syria.