UN to hold arms trade treaty conference in March

UNITED NATIONS — The U.N. General Assembly has voted overwhelmingly to hold a conference in March to try to reach agreement on a U.N. treaty to regulate the multibillion-dollar global arms trade.

A resolution approved late Monday by a vote of 133-0 with 17 abstentions will bring the 193 U.N. member states back to the negotiating table following their failure to reach agreement on a treaty in July.

Hopes of reaching a treaty in July were dashed when the U.S. said it needed more time to consider the proposed treaty — and Russia and China then also asked for a delay.

The co-sponsors of Monday’s resolution — Argentina, Australia, Costa Rica, Finland, Japan, Kenya and Britain — urged all countries to try to make the March 18-28 conference at U.N. headquarters a success.