President Submits to Senate Protocol to Treaty on Central Asian Nuke-Free Zone

President Barack Obama yesterday submitted to the Senate the Protocol to the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia, urging the Senate’s “early and favorable consideration.” Ratified by Kyrgyrzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kazakhstan, the Central Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (CANWFZ) is a legally binding commitment not to acquire, test, make or possess nuclear weapons. Upon entry into force, the treaty would hold the U.S. to not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states in CANWFZ who maintain their nonproliferation obligations. “Ratification of the Protocol is in the best interest of the United States, as it will enhance U.S. security by furthering our objective of preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons, strengthen our relations with the states and the people of Central Asia, demonstrate our commitment to the decision taken at the 1995 Review and Extension Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that helped secure that Treaty’s indefinite extension, and contribute significantly to the continued realization of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in all its aspects,” Obama wrote yesterday in a letter to the Senate. “As the Department of State’s Overview of the Protocol explains, entry into force of the Protocol for the United States would require no changes in U.S. law, policy, or practice.”