Russian Federation

Russian Federation has participated in all Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) meetings on autonomous weapons systems since 2014. It also participated in the 2013 United Nations Human Rights Council meeting on autonomous weapons systems, stating at that time that ‘in our view, in future, such machines could also significantly undermine the ability of the international legal system to maintain minimum legal order.’^[1]Stop Killer Robots (2013), Report on outreach on the UN report on ‘lethal autonomous robotics’, https://www.stopkillerrobots.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/KRC_ReportHeynsUN_Jul2013.pdf Russia does not currently support the negotiation of a legally binding instrument on autonomous weapons systems.

In December 2025 Russia voted against UN General Assembly Resolution 80/57 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Mindful of the challenges and concerns autonomous weapons systems raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives, Resolution 80/57 stresses the urgent need for the CCW to address the challenges and concerns posed by autonomous weapons systems, and calls upon the High Contracting Parties of the CCW to ‘work towards completing the set of elements for an instrument being developed within the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts, with a view to future negotiation.’

At the 79th UN General Assembly First Committee in October 2024, Russia voted against Draft Resolution L.77 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Draft Resolution L.77 raises concerns about the ‘negative consequences and impact of autonomous weapon systems on global security and regional and international stability’ and stresses ‘the importance of the role of humans in the use of force to ensure responsibility and accountability and for States to comply with international law.’ It also notes ‘the repeated calls by the Secretary-General to urgently conclude negotiations of a legally binding instrument with prohibitions and regulations for autonomous weapons systems, in line with a two-tier approach.’ The Resolution will convene open informal consultations in 2025 over two days in New York, ‘to consider the report of the Secretary-General in full complementarity with and in a manner that supports the fulfilment of the mandate of the Group of Governmental Experts in order to further the international community’s understanding of the issues involved by discussing the full range of views received, including proposals and relevant aspects raised in the report that may thus far not have been discussed in detail in the Group of Governmental Experts.’

Russian Federation made a submission to the UN Secretary-General pursuant to Resolution 78/241 on autonomous weapons systems in May 2024.

In December 2023, Russia voted against UN General Assembly Resolution 78/241 on lethal autonomous weapons systems. Resolution 78/241 stressed the ‘urgent need for the international community to address the challenges and concerns raised by autonomous weapons systems’, and mandated the UN Secretary-General to prepare a report, reflecting the views of member and observer states on autonomous weapons systems and ways to address the related challenges and concerns they raise from humanitarian, legal, security, technological and ethical perspectives and on the role of humans in the use of force. Explaining it’s vote, Russia said that it ‘opposes the development  of any internationally legally binding instrument with regard to lethal autonomous weapons systems, and the introduction of a moratorium on development and the use of systems and the technology used to create them.'^[2]Statement by Russia, 01 November 2023, UN General Assembly First Committee, https://media.un.org/en/asset/k1t/k1t5mdoxcp

At the 77th UN General Assembly First Committee meeting in October 2022, Russia said that ‘we believe that the norms of international law, including international humanitarian law, are sufficient and fully applicable to these weapons systems.'^[3]Statement by Russia, 77th UN General Assembly First Committee, 20 October 2022, https://reachingcriticalwill.org/images/documents/Disarmament-fora/1com/1com22/statements/20Oct_Russia.pdf At the second session of the 2021 meeting of the GGE on LAWS, Russia stated that ‘International law, including IHL, fully applies to LAWS and does not need any modernisation or adaptation due to the specific features of such weapons systems.’^[4]Statement by Russia, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 27 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-27-09-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading

At the Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons in December 2021, Russia said that it is ‘against the elaboration of any legally binding instrument’ on autonomous weapons systems, as well as being against ‘a position of a moratorium on the development and use of such systems, and as well as the technologies used for making these systems.’^[5]Statement by Russia, Sixth Review Conference of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons, 14 December 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/RCHCP6-14-12-2021-PM_mp3_en.html; please note … Continue reading

At the 2021 meeting of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons Group of Governmental Experts on Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (GGE on LAWS), Russia stated that ‘a ban or limitation on the possibility of developing these systems could have a negative influence on the development of high technology in the civilian sphere, and also on the achievement of the aims of societal security.’^[6]Statement by Russia, CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS, 24 September 2021, http://149.202.215.129:8080/s2t/UNOG/LAWS-24-09-2021-AM_mp3_en.html; please note that this link leads to the full … Continue reading

Russia is involved in the development, testing, and use of weapons systems with autonomous functions.^[7]See, for example, PAX (2019), State of AI: Artificial Intelligence, the military, and increasingly autonomous weapons, … Continue reading