New York, 2 August 2022
Dear Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen!
At the outset, I would like to commend Germany and Sweden for hosting high-level meeting of the Stockholm Initiative.
Today, we have another opportunity to exchange our views on how to coordinate our efforts for the successful outcome of the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
All participating states of the Stockholm Initiative have worked hard to adopt the “Stepping Stones for Advancing Nuclear Disarmament” and “A Nuclear Risk Reduction Package”. Rebuilding trust and confidence, as well as, promoting progress through practical measures, are our priorities, which will eventually lead to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.
There is no doubt that the NPT remains a cornerstone of the international security architecture and global non-proliferation regime. We have to redouble our efforts at the Review Conference to give a new impetus to implementing the Treaty. It is high time that we overcome the impasse and move forward.
Unfortunately, the distrust between the nuclear and non-nuclear weapon states still remains and is continuing to grow. Furthermore, the current military conflict on the territory of Ukraine, discussions about proliferation of nuclear weapons and mutual threats to use them, raise the question about the collective vulnerability of humanity and the urgent need to ban and eliminate the deadly weapons. As the NPT was adopted to also prevent such negative developments, we have to jointly persuade nuclear powers to come to the path of mutual trust and transparency.
Last year, we commemorated the 30th Anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site and 15th Anniversary of the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free zone. The Semipalatinsk test site used to be the only testing venue in the region, where, in the past, nuclear weapons were actively tested and deployed. In this regard, we appreciate our colleagues for mentioning the former Semipalatinsk test site in the context of the importance of victim assistance in the documents of Stockholm Initiative.
We support the further expansion of other nuclear-weapon-free zones, including in the Middle East, North-East Asia and Europe, in order to turn the entire world into one single nuclear-weapon-free planet. This measure fully complies with Step 8 of the Stepping Stones Working Paper.
Dear colleagues,
Kazakhstan is strongly convinced that meaningful dialogue between nuclear powers is an important step to reduce nuclear threats that would eventually lead to a total elimination of nuclear arms. In this regard, the Stockholm Initiative must become a driving force for building pragmatic and result-oriented nuclear disarmament.
I thank you.