MOSCOW (Sputnik) — In 2014, Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, China and France signed the protocol to the CANWFZ treaty, which legally prohibits the use or the threat to use nuclear weapons against other treaty parties.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted the protocol to the State Duma, the lower house of Russia's parliament, for ratification.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov commented on the situation:
"As for the United States, we are not sure, we openly say it. We stress that we are concerned by the difficulties that documents on security and nuclear weapon non-proliferation face when going through the Senate of US Congress."
CANWFZ was opened for signature in 2006 and was signed and ratified by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan. It entered into force in 2009.
Under the treaty, the five Central Asian countries promise not to research, develop, manufacture, stockpile, acquire, possess, or have any control over any nuclear weapon.
The five states also undertake not to seek or receive assistance in any of the activities related to nuclear weapons development, or assist in or encourage such actions.
