Signed by over 90 senior political, diplomatic, military, and expert figures from across the Asia-Pacific region – the following statement highlights the dangers of nuclear weapons use and calls for political leaders to remember their humanity and end the war in Ukraine.

The statement is issued in the names of the signatories and not on behalf of all APLN network members. The full statement is available in English, Russian, Ukrainian, Chinese, Urdu, Japanese, Korean, Indonesian, and Hindi.

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APLN Statement on the War in Ukraine

We call for an immediate end to Russia’s legally and morally indefensible aggression against Ukraine. Internationally agreed principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and the inviolability of national borders, and non-interference in the internal affairs of states must be respected.    

For as long as it continues, the war in Ukraine risks nuclear escalation with catastrophic global consequences. We call on the P5 to stand by their recent joint statement that ‘a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought’. Nuclear-armed powers must maintain restraint. Events in Europe prove that we need to work harder and faster to ensure that nuclear weapons are put beyond use and eventually eliminated. Nuclear threats are a violation of international law and cannot and must not be abided.

The worsening humanitarian crisis demands immediate action. For the sake of the victims of this war – the dead, the injured, the displaced, and the suffering – we ask that politicians remember their humanity. Those in need require prompt, safe and unfettered access to humanitarian aid. We urge political leaders to show courage and take the necessary steps to end hostilities and pursue a political solution to the war. 

SIGNED: 

1. 1. Marty NATALEGAWA, Chair of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network, Indonesia. 
   2. ABE Nobuyasu, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, former Director-General for Arms Control and Science Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan. 
   3. KIM Won-soo, Chair Professor of Incheon National University, former United Nations Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, South Korea. 
   4. Malcolm TURNBULL, former Prime Minister of Australia, Australia. 
   5. Julia GILLARD, former Prime Minister of Australia, Australia. 
   6. Helen CLARK, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, New Zealand. 
   7. Geoffrey PALMER, former Prime Minister and former Deputy Prime Minister of New Zealand, New Zealand. 
   8. Jim BOLGER, former Prime Minister of New Zealand and former Ambassador to the United States, New Zealand. 
   9. KAWAGUCHI Yoriko, former Foreign Minister and Environment Minister of Japan, Japan. 
   10. KIM Sung-hwan, Chairman of the East Asia Foundation, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of South Korea, South Korea. 
   11. Sihasak PHUANGKETKEOW, former Permanent Secretary of Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, former Permanent Representative of Thailand to the United Nations, and Secretary-General to the Asian Peace and Reconciliation Council, Thailand.
   12. Hewa Matara Gamage Siripala PALIHAKKARA, former Foreign Secretary of Sri Lanka, former Ambassador to United Nations, in New York and Geneva. Sri Lanka. 
   13. Gareth EVANS, former Foreign Minister of Australia, Australia. 
   14. Sawanit KONGSIRI, former Deputy Foreign Minister, former Ambassador to China, Australia, and the IAEA, board member of the Thai Red Cross Society, Thailand. 
   15. Shyam SARAN, former Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, former Ambassador to Myanmar, Indonesia, Nepal, and High Commissioner to Mauritius, India. 
   16. Lalit MANSINGH, former Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs, former High Commissioner of India to the UK, Nigeria, and former Ambassador to the US, India. 
   17. Riaz Mohammad KHAN, former Foreign Secretary of Pakistan, former Ambassador to China, the EU, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan.
   18. Dell HIGGIE, Ambassador-at-Large for New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, former Global Ambassador for Disarmament, and Permanent Representative of New Zealand to the Conference on Disarmament, New Zealand.
   19. Jesus “Gary” S. DOMINGO, Ambassador to Aotearoa-New Zealand & Cook Islands, Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, Philippines.
   20. SHEN Dingli, Professor and the former Associate Dean at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies, China. 
   21. Rakesh SOOD, former Ambassador to Nepal, Afghanistan, France and the Conference on Disarmament, and Special Envoy of the Prime Minister for Nuclear Non-Proliferation, India. 
   22. Neelam DEO, former Indian Ambassador to Denmark, Ivory Coast, Niger, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, India. 
   23. Jehangir KARAMAT, retired four-star rank army General, former Chief of Army Staff of the Pakistan Army, Pakistan. 
   24. Shashindra Pal TYAGI, retired Air Chief Marshal, former Chief of the Air Staff of the Indian Air Force, India. 
   25. Feroz KHAN, former Brigadier-General in the Pakistan Army, former Director Arms Control and Disarmament Affairs in Strategic Plans Division, Joint Services Headquarters, Pakistan.
   26. C Uday BHASKAR, retired Indian Navy Commodore, Director of the Society for Policy Studies (SPS), India.
   27. Nikki KAYE, former Deputy Leader of the National Party, former Cabinet Minister including former Minister of Education and former Member of Parliament, New Zealand.
   28. YUZAKI Hidehiko, Governor of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan, Japan. 
   29. Tanya PLIBERSEK, Shadow Minister for Education, Shadow Minister for Women, and the Federal Member for Sydney, Australia.
   30. Rajmah HUSSAIN, former Ambassador of Malaysia to US, France and Austria, and former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Malaysia. 
   31. Carlos D. SORRETA, former Ambassador to Russia, former Director-General of Foreign Service Institute, former Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Philippines. 
   32. Kasit PIROMYA, former Ambassador to Russia, Malaysia, Germany, Japan, and the US and former member of Parliament, Thailand.
   33. Jargalsaikhan ENKHSAIKHAN, Chairman of Blue Banner, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Mongolia. 
   34. Melissa PARKE, former Australian Minister for International Development, Australia. 
   35. Ruth DYSON, former Minister for Social Development, former Assistant Speaker of the House of Representatives, former Chief Government Whip in the House of Representatives, New Zealand 
   36. Pervez HOODBHOY, Distinguished Professor of Zohra and ZZ Ahmed Foundation at the Forman Christian College, former member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament, former Professor at Quaid-e-Azam University physics department, Pakistan. 
   37. Abdul Hameed NAYYAR, founding member of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, retired physicist of the Quaid-i-Azam University Islamabad, Pakistan. 
   38. MOON Chung-in, Chairman of the Sejong Institute, former Special Adviser of National Security and Foreign Affairs to the President, South Korea. 
   39. C. Raja MOHAN, Senior Fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute and Visiting Professor at the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, India. 
   40. LEE Sang-Hyun, President and Senior Research Fellow at the Sejong Institute in Korea, President of the Korea Nuclear Policy Society (KNPS), South Korea. 
   41. ZHAO Tong, Senior Fellow at the Nuclear Policy Program of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, China. 
   42. Manpreet SETHI, Distinguished Fellow of the Centre for Air Power Studies, New Delhi, India. 
   43. Mely CABALLERO-ANTHONY, Professor of International Relations, President’s Chair in International Relations and Security Studies, and Head of the Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Philippines.  
   44. HWANG Yong-soo, President of the Korea Institute of Nuclear Non-proliferation and Control (KINAC), South Korea. 
   45. SUZUKI Tatsujiro, Vice Director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University (RECNA), former Vice Chairman of the Japan Atomic Energy Commission, Japan. 
   46. FUJIWARA Kiichi, Professor of International Politics at the University of Tokyo and Director of the Institute for Future Initiatives, Japan. 
   47. Gary QUINLAN, former Ambassador to Indonesia, former Deputy Secretary at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Australia.  
   48. John MCCARTHY, former Ambassador to Vietnam, Mexico, Thailand, the United States, Indonesia, and Japan, and High Commissioner to India, Australia. 
   49. Nirupama Menon RAO, former Indian Foreign Secretary and former Ambassador of India to China and to the United States, India. 
   50. Michael KIRBY, former Co-Chair of the Human Rights Institute of the International Bar Association; Former President of the International Commission of Jurists; Special Representative of the UN Secretary General for Human Rights in Cambodia; and Former Chair of the UN Human Rights Council’s commission of inquiry on Human Rights Violations of North Korea (DPRK), Australia. 
   51. John CARLSON, former Director-General of the Australian Safeguards and Non-Proliferation Office and founding Chair of the Asia-Pacific Safeguards Network, Australia. 
   52. John TILEMANN, former diplomat in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East and former Chief of Staff to two Directors General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Dr. Hans Blix and Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, Australia. 
   53. Ramamurti RAJARAMAN, Emeritus Professor of Physics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, founding member and past Chairman of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, India.
   54. JUN Bong-Geun, Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security (IFANS), Korean National Diplomatic Academy (KNDA), South Korea. 
   55. Peter HAYES, Honorary Professor, Center for International Security Studies, Sydney University, Australia and Director, Nautilus Institute, Australia. 
   56. Trevor FINDLAY, Principal Fellow at the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne and former chair, UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, Australia. 
   57. Kate DEWES, former Director of the Disarmament and Security Centre, and former member of the UN Secretary General’s Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters, New Zealand. 
   58. Natasha STOTT-DESPOJA, former Senator for South Australia, former Leader of the Australian Democrats, former Australian ambassador for women and girls, former Chair of Our Watch. Australia. 
   59. Jusuff WANANDI, Senior Fellow and co-founder of CSIS, Vice Chairman of the Board of Trustees for CSIS Foundation in Jakarta, Indonesia. 
   60. Angela WOODWARD, Deputy Executive Director of the Verification Research, Training and Information Centre, New Zealand. 
   61. Nobumasa AKIYAMA, Professor at the School of International and Public Policy and the Graduate School of Law at Hitotsubashi University, Japan. 
   62. Simon CHESTERMAN, Dean and Provost’s Chair Professor of the National University of Singapore Faculty of Law and Senior Director of AI Governance at AI Singapore, Australia.
   63. Tanya OGILVIE-WHITE, Senior Research Adviser at APLN and Non-Resident Senior Fellow at the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs, Australian National University, New Zealand.
   64. Shatabhisha SHETTY, Executive Director of the Asia Pacific Leadership Network (APLN) and co-founder of the European Leadership Network (ELN), Australia.
   65. Jina KIM, Dean of Language and Diplomacy Division, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, South Korea.
   66. Marianne HANSON, Associate Professor of International Relations at the University of Queensland, Australia. 
   67. Waheguru Pal Singh (W.P.S.) SIDHU, Senior Fellow at New York University’s Center on International Cooperation (CIC), former Vice President of Programs at the EastWest Institute in New York, former Director of the New Issues in Security program at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP), India. 
   68. FUNABASHI Yoichi, former editor-in-chief of the Asahi Shimbun, and correspondent to Beijing and Washington DC, Japan. 
   69. Siddharth VARADARAJAN, founder of The Wire and former editor of The Hindu, India. 
   70. Sadia TASLEEM, lecturer at Quaid-i-Azam University’s Department of Defense and Strategic Studies in Islamabad, Pakistan. 
   71. OTA Masakatsu, Senior and Editorial writer at Kyodo News, Visiting Professor of Waseda University and Nagasaki University, Japan. 
   72. UMEBAYASHI Hiromichi, former Director of the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University, Japan.  
   73. Kevin P CLEMENTS, Director of the Toda Peace Institute, Japan, New Zealand.
   74. INUZUKA Tadashi, Co-President of World Federalist Movement at the Institute for Global Polity and the Executive Director of Coalition for 3+3, Japan.
   75. Larissa WATERS, Queensland Greens Senator, Co-Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens, Australia.
   76. Jordon STEELE-JOHN, Senator for Western Australia, Australian Greens Spokesperson for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, Australia.
   77. Janet RICE, Senator for Victoria, Australian Greens Spokesperson for Foreign Affairs, Australia.
   78. TOSAKI Hirofumi, Director of the Center for Disarmament, Science and Technology (CDAST) at Japan Institute of International Affairs (JIIA), Japan.
   79. KAWASAKI Akira, Member of the Executive Committee of Peace Boat and sitting President and International Steering Group member of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Japan.
   80. CHEONG Wooksik, Director of Peace Network and Director of the Hankyoreh Institute of Peace, South Korea.
   81. WHANG Joo-ho, former President of the Korean Nuclear Society and former Professor at the Department of Nuclear Engineering, Kyung Hee University, South Korea.
   82. Arun VISHWANATHAN, Associate Professor, Central University of Gujarat, India.
   83. Lucky SHERPA, Member of Constitution Assembly, Former Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand and Secretary General of the Association of Former Nepali Ambassadors, Nepal.
   84. ONG Keng Yong, 11th Secretary-General of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), Singapore.
   85. Tommy KOH, Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Chairman of the Institute of Policy Studies and the National Heritage Board, Singapore.
   86. Rajaram PANDA, Senior Fellow, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, Former Senior Fellow, IDSA, New Delhi, Lok Sabha Research Fellow and ICCR India Chair Professor, Reitaku University Japan, India.
   87. CHAN Heng Chee, Ambassador-At-Large at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Professor at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities, Singapore University of Technology and Design, former Ambassador to the United States, former Permanent Representative to the United Nations, and former High Commissioner to Canada and Ambassador to Mexico, Singapore.
   88. Arun PRAKASH, Former Flag Officer of the Indian Navy, India’s 20th Chief of the Naval Staff and Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, India.
   89. Julio Tomas PINTO, Former Secretary of State for Defense of Timor-Leste and Senior Lecturer in Department of Political Science in Universidade Nacional de Timor Leste, Timor-Leste.
   90. Dionisio da Costa Babo SOARES, Former Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, Timor-Leste.
   91. Rajeswari (Raji) Pillai Rajagopalan, Director of the Centre for Security, Strategy & Technology (CSST) at the Observer Research Foundation, New Delhi.

Chinese Translation

APLN关于乌克兰战争的声明

我们呼吁立即停止俄罗斯对乌克兰在法律和道德上无可辩驳的侵略。必须尊重国际商定的主权和领土完整、国家边界不可侵犯、以及不干涉国家内政的原则。

只要乌克兰的战事延续，就有进一步升级为核战争的风险，并在全球带来灾难性的后果。我们呼吁五常坚持他们最新的联合声明，即“核战争打不赢，也打不得”。核武器国家必须保持冷静克制。欧洲的事件证明，我们需要更努力、更快速地确保核武器不被使用，乃至完全被消除。核威胁违反了国际法，这不能也不应该被容忍。

我们必须立即采取行动，以应对不断恶化的人道主义危机。为了这场战争的受害者——死者、伤者、流离失所者和受难者，我们期待政治家们勿忘人性。那些亟待援助的人们需要迅速、安全和不受阻碍地获得人道主义援助。我们敦促政治领导人拿出勇气，采取必要的步骤，结束敌对行动，寻求政治解决乌克兰问题。

Japanese Translation

ウクライナにおける戦争に関するAPLN声明

私たちは、国際法上も倫理上も弁護することのできないロシアのウクライナ侵略を即時停止することを要求する。国家主権、領土保全、国境不可侵、そして内政問題への関与禁止、といった国際的に合意されている原則は尊重されるべきである。

この戦争が継続する限り、核戦争への拡大につながって地球規模の破滅的な結末を迎えるリスクが存在する。核兵器五大国（P5）は、先日発表された首脳による共同声明「核戦争に勝者はなく、決して戦ってはならない」を守ることを要請する。核兵器保有国は、抑制的態度を維持すべきだ。欧州における今回の出来事は、核兵器を使わせない、そして廃絶させるための努力をさらに強め、さらに早めるべきであることを証明した。核兵器による恫喝は、国際法違反であり、決して許されてはならない。

人道的危機の継続は今すぐ行動することを要求している。この戦争の犠牲者―亡くなられた方々、負傷者、避難者、そして精神的に苦しんでいる人々―のためにも、私たちは政治指導者が「人道性」を心にとどめることを要請する。そして、すべての犠牲者が人道的支援への安全で自由なアクセスを保証されるべきだ。私たちは、政治指導者が勇気をもって、対立を終わらせ、戦争の政治的な解決に必要な施策をとることを強く要請する。

Korean Translation

우크라이나 전쟁에 관한 APLN 성명

우리는 우크라이나에 대한 러시아의 법적, 도덕적으로 변명의 여지가 없는 침략 행위를 즉각 중단할 것을 요구한다. 국제적으로 합의된 주권, 영토통합 및 국경 불가침원칙, 국가 내정에 대한 불간섭 원칙은 존중되어야 한다.

이 전쟁이 계속되는 한, 우크라이나에서의 전쟁은 치명적인 세계적 결과를 초래 할 수 있는 핵 확산의 위험을 안고 있다. 우리는 P5 국가가 ‘핵 전쟁은 이길 수 없으며 결코 싸워서는 안된다’는 최근의 공동성명을 고수할 것을 촉구한다. 핵보유국은 자제력을 유지해야만한다. 유럽의 사건들은 우리가 핵무기를 사용할 수 없게 만들고 결국 제거하도록 더 열심히 그리고 더 빠르게노력해야 한다는 것을 증명한다. 핵 위협은 국제법 위반이며 준수할 수도 없고 지켜져서도 안된다.

악화되고 있는 인도주의적 위기는 즉각적인 조치를 요구한다. 이 전쟁의 희생자들, 즉 사상자, 실향민, 그리고 고통받는 사람들을 위해서 우리는 정치인들이 그들의 존엄성을 기억하기를 요청한다. 도움이 필요한 사람들은 인도주의적 원조에 대한 신속하고, 안전하고, 제한없는 접근이 필요하다. 우리는 정치 지도자들이 용기를 보여주고 적대행위를 종식시키고 전쟁에 대한 정치적 해결책을 추구하기 위한 필요한 조치를 취할 것을 촉구한다.

 

Indonesian Translation

Pernyataan APLN tentang Perang di Ukraina

Kami meminta dihentikannya agresi Rusia terhadap Ukraina yang tidak dapat dibenarkan secara hukum dan moral. Prinsip-prinsip yang disepakati secara internasional menyangkut kedaulatan, integritas teritorial dan batas-batas negara yang tidak dapat diganggu gugat, dan urusan internal negara yang tidak boleh diintervensi harus dihormati.

Selama agresi itu berlanjut, perang di Ukraina beresiko untuk meledaknya perang nuklir dengan konsekuensi bencana global. Kami mendorong anggota tetap Dewan Keamanan PBB untuk mewujudkan pernyataan bahwa ‘perang nuklir tidak dapat dimenangkan dan tidak boleh terjadi’. Negara-negara bersenjata nuklir harus menahan diri. Kejadian di Eropa membuktikan bahwa kita perlu bekerja lebih keras dan lebih cepat untuk memastikan bahwa senjata nuklir tidak dapat dipergunakan lagi dan akhirnya perlu dimusnahkan. Ancaman nuklir adalah pelanggaran hukum internasional dan tidak dapat juga tidak boleh dipatuhi.

Krisis kemanusiaan yang semakin memburuk menuntut tindakan sesegera mungkin. Demi para korban perang ini – yang tewas, yang terluka, yang terlantar, dan yang menderita – kami meminta para politisi untuk mengingat hak asasi manusia. Mereka membutuhkan akses yang cepat, aman dan tidak terbatas untuk mendapatkan bantuan kemanusiaan. Kami mendesak para pemimpin politik untuk menunjukkan keberanian dan mengambil langkah-langkah yang diperlukan untuk mengakhiri permusuhan dan menjajaki solusi politik untuk menghentikan perang ini.

Hindi Translation

यूक्रेन में युद्ध पर APLN का बयान

हम रूस द्वारा यूक्रेन के विरुद्ध कानूनी और नैतिक रूप से अनुचित और अरक्षणीय आक्रामकता को अविलम्ब समाप्त करने की मांग करते है। संप्रभुता, क्षेत्रीय अखंडता और राष्ट्रीय सीमाओं की अनुल्लंघनीयता, तथा राज्यों के आंतरिक मामलों में अहस्तक्षेप के उन सिद्धांतों का आदर किया जाना चाहिए जिन्हें अंतर्राष्ट्रीय स्तर पर सहमती प्राप्त है।

जब तक यूक्रेन में युद्ध जारी रहेगा, परमाणु युद्ध की ओर बढ़ने और विनाशकारी वैश्विक परिणामों का खतरा भी बना रहेगा। हम पी-5 से आग्रह करते हैं कि वह हाल के अपने उस संयुक्त बयान के साथ खड़ा रहे कि ‘एक परमाणु युद्ध को कभी जीता नहीं जा सकता और इसे कभी लड़ा नहीं जाना चाहिए’। परमाणु लैस शक्तियों को निग्रह और नियंत्रण बनाए रखना चाहिए। यूरोप की घटनाएँ यह सिद्ध करती हैं कि हमें परमाणु हथियारों का उपयोग ना होने और आखिरकार उनको समाप्त कर दिया जाने को सुनिश्चित करने की दिशा में और अधिक मेहनत के साथ और तेजी से कार्य करना होगा। परमाणु खतरे अंतर्राष्ट्रीय कानून के उल्लंघन हैं और उन्हें स्वीकार ना तो किया जा सकता है ना हि किया जाना चाहिए।

बिगड़ती मानवतावादी संकट अविलम्ब कार्यवाही की मांग करती है। इस युद्ध के शिकार व्यक्तियों – मृत, घायल, विस्थापित, और पीड़ितों – के लिए हम राजनेताओं से निवेदन करते हैं कि वे अपनी मानवता को याद रखें। जरूरतमंद लोगों को त्वरित, सुरक्षित और बाधारहित मानवतावादी सहायता चाहिए। राजनेताओं से हमारी मांग है कि वे साहस दिखाते हुए युद्धस्थिति को समाप्त करने के लिए आवश्यक कदम उठाएँ और युद्ध के एक राजनीतिक समाधान पाने का प्रयास करें।

 

Cover image vector: @silentstock639 via iStock / remixed by the APLN