A coalition consisting of the five former Soviet republics in Central Asia has agreed to establish a nuclear-weapons-free zone across their region.
The pact, which was signed this past Saturday by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan, prohibits the nations from researching, developing, producing, or possessing nuclear weapons.
The treaty further stipulates that each nation must ratify the Additional Protocol to its nuclear safeguards agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and adhere to the requirements of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, according to the United Nations.
“The secretary general trusts that the entry into force of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia will reinforce efforts to strengthen the global nuclear nonproliferation regime, underline the strategic and moral value of nuclear-weapon-free zones, as well as the possibilities for greater progress on a range of issues in the pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons,” said United Nations Secretary General Ban Kim-moon in an issued statement.