A/RES/58/56 improvement and development of nuclear-weapon systems, and for a comprehensive and phased programme with agreed time frames, wherever feasible, for the progressive and balanced reduction of nuclear weapons and their means of delivery, leading to their ultimate and complete elimination at the earliest possible time, Reaffirming the conviction of the States parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons 4 that the Treaty is a cornerstone of nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament and the importance of the decision on strengthening the review process for the Treaty, 5 the decision on principles and objectives for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament,5 the decision on the extension of the Treaty5 and the resolution on the Middle East,5 adopted by the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Stressing the importance of the thirteen steps for the systematic and progressive efforts to achieve the objective of nuclear disarmament leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons, as agreed to by the States parties in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, 6 Reiterating the highest priority accorded to nuclear disarmament in the Final Document of the Tenth Special Session of the General Assembly and by the international community, Noting with appreciation the entry into force of the Treaty on the Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START I), 7 to which Belarus, Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation, Ukraine and the United States of America are States parties, Reiterating its call for an early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, 8 Noting with appreciation the entry into force of the Treaty on Strategic Offensive Reductions (“the Moscow Treaty”) between the United States of America and the Russian Federation 9 as a significant step towards reducing their deployed strategic nuclear weapons, while calling for further irreversible deep cuts in their nuclear arsenals, Noting with appreciation also the unilateral measures taken by the nuclear-weapon States for nuclear arms limitation, and encouraging them to take further such measures, Recognizing the complementarity of bilateral, plurilateral and multilateral negotiations on nuclear disarmament, and that bilateral negotiations can never replace multilateral negotiations in this respect, _______________ 4 United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 729, No. 10485. See 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, Part I (NPT/CONF.1995/32 (Part I) and Corr.2), annex. 6 See 2000 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Final Document, vol. I (NPT/CONF.2000/28 (Parts I and II)), part I, section entitled “Article VI and eighth to twelfth preambular paragraphs”, para. 15. 7 The United Nations Disarmament Yearbook, vol. 16: 1991 (United Nations publication, Sales No. E.92.IX.1), appendix II. 8 See resolution 50/245. 9 See CD/1674. 5 2