Russia and the United States have submitted a joint draft resolution to the UN General Assembly on responsible behavior in cyberspace – an important event, given the fact that in recent years the two countries have mainly acted as rivals and even opponents in the world organization. After approval by the First Committee, the General Assembly will vote on the document in December, according to a Russian newspaper. “Kommersant”.
Until now, the rules of conduct of states in the information space have been developed by two mechanisms within the UN – revived by the American groups of government experts (GPE) and initiated by Russia, an open-ended working group (RGOS). Russia and the United States joined both countries, but Moscow supported the CSRG and Washington supported the GPE. Competition between them created space for rivalry and behind-the-scenes intrigue, reducing the effectiveness of both mechanisms.
With the adoption of consensus reports in both groups this spring, there have been positive changes, but the development of a joint resolution is a real diplomatic breakthrough. This is largely due to the agreements reached by Presidents Biden and Putin at their June meeting, the newspaper said.
Last week, the project was presented by the delegations of Russia and the United States at informal consultations at the UN. Andrei Krutskykh, President Putin’s special envoy for international cooperation in cybersecurity, called the event a “historic moment.” According to him, the resolution is also of strategic importance, as it will put an end to the parallel work of the two UN cybersecurity platforms, which has long been called for by the world community.
Together, the latest reports of the two groups form a framework concept for the rules of responsible behavior of states in cyberspace. The new Russian-American resolution calls on states to implement these norms and create conditions for further efforts in this area at the UN, said Michelle Marcoff, cyber coordinator of the US State Department.
According to the document, from now on this work will be carried out within the framework of the CSR, whose mandate is extended until 2025. The resolution emphasizes that all states are interested in promoting the peaceful use of information and communication technologies (ICT) and preventing related conflicts. But he adds that a number of countries are increasing their capacity to use ICTs for military purposes, and it is increasingly likely that ICTs will be used in future conflicts. And the adoption of voluntary and optional norms of responsible behavior can reduce threats to international peace, security and stability.
During the talks at the UN, diplomats had previously developed a basic cyber code for states. In particular, they called on governments to prevent the spread of malware, to inform software authors about identified vulnerabilities, rather than using them for hacking, and to refrain from running hidden features in IT products produced in their territory. The weakness of the code, however, is the voluntary nature of the standards. Russia has repeatedly offered to make them legally binding, but the United States opposed, the newspaper recalls.
The submission of a Russian-American draft resolution to the UN – an “unprecedented step” – was made possible because the two countries managed to put their political differences in brackets and take a pragmatic, constructive and responsible position, Krutsky said. Together with his American counterpart, he called on all UN member states to support the document, including as co-authors. By the time the issue was published, there were already more than fifty of them, Kommersant adds.