US and Russia Block UN Autonomous Weapons Treaty

The United States and Russia are leading an effort to block proposals for a legally binding international treaty to regulate autonomous weapons. The dispute centers on an upcoming United Nations review conference in Geneva scheduled for November 16-20, where 128 countries will determine if a mandate and timetable should be established for negotiating rules on weapons that select and engage targets without human intervention.

A coalition of 50 states, including France, Germany, and Ireland, is pushing for a strict negotiating mandate. In contrast, the United States and the United Kingdom argue that existing international humanitarian law is sufficient to govern these technologies. This diplomatic clash follows reports of AI-guided weapons use in Ukraine and a February 28 U.S. bombing of a school in Minab, Iran, which killed at least 175 people after the Maven AI system failed to identify the site as a school.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres and Pope Leo XIV have called for urgent action to prevent machines from making decisions regarding human life. The International Committee of the Red Cross has also advocated for an immediate transition from discussion to the negotiation of new international rules.