The Protocol to the Agreement on the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone was signed on behalf of the Russian Federation on May 6, 2014.
The underlying Agreement was signed in Semipalatinsk on September 8, 2006 by representatives of five Central Asian states (the Republic of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, the Republic of Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and the Republic of Uzbekistan), ratified by all said states and came into force on March 21, 2009.
The Agreement stipulates that all parties thereto renounce the development, production or other form of acquisition of nuclear arms, possession or control, distribution or transport of nuclear weapons by any means, testing or use of nuclear weapons, and commit to not allowing other states to undertake any of the above on their territory.
The Agreement includes a Protocol, open to signing by states possessing nuclear arms, under which such states commit to not using nuclear arms or threatening to use them against states that are parties to the Agreement, or contributing to any act that constitutes a violation of the Agreement (not testing, supporting or encouraging testing of any explosive nuclear devices, or distributing or transporting them within the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone).
In accordance with a Presidential instruction, Russia signed the Protocol on May 6, 2014 simultaneously with all states possessing nuclear arms. Upon its execution, Russia made a statement concerning the scope of its application to avoid the possibility of an alternate interpretation of this stipulation by the states that are parties to the Agreement. Russia also included a regular reservation clause about the circumstances under which it will be bound by the Protocol.
In addition, a reservation clause was included that the Russian Federation reserves the right not to be bound by the Protocol if any party to the Agreement allows entry of foreign military vessels or aircraft carrying nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices on board into its ports or airfields, or allows the transit of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices through its territory.
To confirm Russia’s position as stated upon signing the Protocol, the federal law ratifies it with the corresponding reservation clause and statement.