Senior Russian Diplomat calls adoption of US-Russia draft on ICT in UNGA 'serious victory'

New York [US], November 6 (ANI/Sputnik): Russia considers the adoption of its joint with the United States draft resolution on the peaceful use of information and communications technology (ICT) in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly as a "serious victory," Russian Representative in the UN General Assembly First Committee Andrey Belousov told reporters.
"We believe the adoption of a resolution on the security of information and communications technology was a serious victory. We were able to convince our American partners to combine efforts on this track and submit a joint resolution from Russia and the United States," Belousov said.
Belousov pointed out that this year, four out the five documents submitted by Russia in the First Committee were adopted.
However, the diplomat noted that Russia's draft on Secretary-General's Mechanism for Investigation of Alleged Use of Chemical and Biological Weapons was not supported at the committee this year.
According to Belousov, a number of countries were pressured by the United States to not vote in favor of the document.
"Our opponents, led by the United States, were engaged in a strong campaign to discredit our document. We heard from many delegations that our opponents were putting unprecedented pressure on developing countries to prevent the adoption of our draft," Belousov said.
On Wednesday, the UN General Assembly First Committee adopted a Russia-US draft stressing that it is in the interests of all member states to promote the use of information and communication technologies for peaceful purposes.
The adopted draft also recognizes that a number of countries develop technology capabilities for military purposes and the use of them in conflicts is becoming more likely. (ANI/Sputnik)