United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has asked the international community to build on the momentum generated by recent progress made towards disarmament to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

"The UN and the Conference on Disarmament should seize this moment and be in the vanguard of efforts towards a world free of nuclear weapons," Ban said pointing to the "promising signs" made in the past few months, including initiatives by the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, the European Union, non-aligned countries and other governments.