Autonomous weapons: 128 countries agree UN text

A total of 128 countries agreed on Saturday on a text defining lethal autonomous weapons systems, a step toward possible talks on an international treaty to regulate the weapons.

Dutch Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen announced the agreement. The Netherlands has been overseeing the talks. The text has not yet been made public.

UN member states are due to decide at November talks of the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons whether to move towards an international treaty regulating lethal autonomous weapons systems.

The International Committee of the Red Cross warned that unconstrained development and use of autonomous weapon systems pose serious legal, ethical and humanitarian challenges. The ICRC and campaign groups have called for legally binding international rules to restrict and regulate their use.

Nicole van Rooijen, executive director of Stop Killer Robots, accused the United States, Russia and their allies of trying to weaken the agreed text. Lex International, a Geneva-based philanthropic group, said the United States, Russia, India and Israel were among the key opponents of negotiations, while Brazil, Ireland and Norway were leading efforts to start such talks in November.