Bracketed 'paragraph 15' and late negotiations flagged as central obstacle to NPT outcome

Reporters at the United Nations press briefing pressed Ambassador Viet on a bracketed paragraph in the fourth draft of the outcome document — repeatedly referred to in the briefing as paragraph 15 — and on whether that paragraph was the principal reason the conference failed to adopt an outcome.

"Was paragraph 15 the main reason the outcome document could not be put forward for adoption?" asked Yasuji Matsumoto of Ko News. Ambassador Viet replied: "It was a very important reason." He cautioned, however, that the draft must be seen as a package and that drafting choices can make different states unable to join a consensus.

Viet described intense consultations during the final day, including postponing the plenary until 5 p.m. to seek solutions, but said those efforts "did not come to fruition." He said he considered multiple textual and placement changes in the last hours (including whether to avoid a direct reference to a particular state), but by about 4:00–4:30 p.m. concluded consensus could not be found and opted not to present the draft to the plenary to avoid placing any state in the position of being forced to block the outcome.

On transparency: some delegations had raised concerns about transparency during the final week. Viet defended the conference's transparency measures — noting webcasts and that many sessions were open — but said some states preferred closed consultations when discussing sensitive security matters.

On substantive content: reporters also raised worries that references to the DPRK and to humanitarian consequences had been shortened across successive drafts. Viet said REF4 (a streamlined version circulating at the end) was deliberately shortened from earlier, more ambitious drafts to concentrate on the three NPT pillars and to attempt to produce a consensual text.

What was not resolved: Viet repeatedly declined to list which states were tied to paragraph 15 disputes, saying it would be unfair to single them out. That left the precise breakdown of positions on paragraph 15 unresolved in the briefing.