5/11/2012 - EOV Etablissement d’une zone exempte d’armes nucléaires en Asie Centrale

Explanation of vote by H.E. Joanne Adamson, Ambassador,
Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Northern Ireland to the Conference on Disarmament

on behalf of France, the United Kingdom and the United States.

L.4 rev.1 : “Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) Treaty”

New York, 5 november 2012

Mr. Chairman,

I am speaking on behalf of France, the United Kingdom and the United States with regards to L., entitled "Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ)"

The Governments of France, the United Kingdom and the United States have been in touch with the five Central Asian states on a number of occasions in an effort to resolve problems which have prevented our ratification of the protocol to the treaty. We are encouraged by the expression of readiness of the Central Asian states to consult with us on outstanding issues.

We remain convinced that nuclear weapons free zones can contribute toward strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty and building regional stability while also providing meaningful and valuable negative security assurances to the members of the zone.

At this point, several outstanding issues remain, including Article XII, whose resolution in a mutually acceptable manner would be necessary to make further progress toward our respective accession to the treaty’s protocol.

Nevertheless, we support the objective of a nuclear weapon free Central Asia and underscore our readiness to consult with the five Central Asian States, in the near future, in order to arrive at a mutually satisfactory outcome.

Thank you Mr. Chairman.