Signal Central Asian States Issue Joint Statement on 20th Anniversary of CANWFZ Treaty

Summary

The five Central Asian states party to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, issued a joint foreign ministers statement marking the 20th anniversary of the treaty's signing. The treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk in 2006 and entered into force in 2009. The statement calls for developing new, verifiable arms control mechanisms to fill the gap left after the New START treaty expired earlier in 2026. It expresses regret over the 11th Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference, which ended without substantive agreement. It backs the swift entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. It also supports establishing additional nuclear-weapon-free zones in other regions, such as the Middle East, that currently lack one.