At this meeting I will update you on the recent development of our work on the crime of aggression and to this end we are circulating right now an update of my non-paper in the room. I will wait with the very brief presentation that I will make until such time as everybody in the room does have a copy of the updated non-paper.

There are very few changes in bold, and what is bolded is new compared to yesterday evening. Before addressing the text itself, let me say that I am strongly encouraged by the ongoing efforts and that I am very grateful to all delegations that have been very actively involved in this process, and in particular to those that have made very significant concessions in the course of those negotiations. As you know, I have come into this exercise together with the Chairman of the Working Group on the Crime of Aggression, Prince Zeid, with the stated goal of reaching a consensual outcome on the crime of aggression. I do believe that at this point we are very close to reaching this goal together. The fact that we have been able to come so far and to advance to this point in our discussions is due to your efforts, your inputs, your contributions to this process and in particular to the collective will to reach a consensual outcome. This is what makes me confident that we will be able to bridge the remaining gap within the time that is available to us and to bring this exercise to a very positive conclusion.