UN expert group agrees final report on autonomous weapons; treaty question deferred

At its last session under a three-year mandate (31 August to 4 September 2026 in Geneva), the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on lethal autonomous weapons agreed a draft final report, which France said was backed by the convention's 128 states parties. The text is non-binding; in March more than 70 states had backed negotiating on the chair's rolling text, while the US resisted 'human control' wording. Whether to open negotiations goes to the CCW Seventh Review Conference in November 2026.