NEWS

Mr. Secretary General,

Mr. President,

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let me express my deep appreciation for this opportunity to address such a representative group of experts.

Kazakhstan, which has voluntarily renounced the world's fourth largest nuclear arsenal and shut down the largest nuclear test site at Semipalatinsk, has been and will continue to be a strong advocate of and active participant in the global non-proliferation process and the efforts to reduce the nuclear threat.

 Kazakhstan’s model of disarmament has become an example to be followed, thanks to the political will and consistent efforts of President Nursultan Nazarbayev and his determination to work tirelessly to achieve the goal of a nuclear-free world.

 Kazakhstan attaches great importance to the Conference on Disarmament and considers it as one of the most important mechanisms for strengthening international security. The world without wars and conflicts has always been a dream of the humanity and we all remember important documents worked out by the Conference for this purpose. There is no doubt that the forum has a great potential and is ready to make a major contribution to the disarmament process. In this regard, I wish to express my hope that the participating states have the political will to overcome their differences and to start the practical work of the Conference.

2009 was a momentous year for the disarmament community. We are witnessing a change in the policy on non-proliferation and disarmament of the Unites States of America. The initiative of President Obama to convene a global summit on nuclear security, his decision to give a new impulse to an early ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty have been positively received by the international community and have inspired a new hope.

The progress in the negotiations between Russia and the United States to conclude a new agreement to replace the START Treaty is of crucial importance.

Today, it is very important to overcome the stagnation in the global disarmament process and to bring up to date the fundamental instrument in this area - the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. Big hopes are pinned on the upcoming NPT Review Conference, scheduled to be held in May. The United Nations Secretary General has proposed a 5-point plan for disarmament. The proposals by the United Kingdom, France, Norway and some other countries are also very interesting.

The world is waiting for a big breakthrough  and we must meet those expectations.

In this context, the Washington summit on nuclear security and the NPT Review Conference are the key events.

Kazakhstan supports the goals of the Washington summit and is actively working to prepare for it. The President of Kazakhstan plans to share, at the summit, his vision of further steps to enhance nuclear security. It would not be an exaggeration to note that Kazakhstan offers a model of leadership that is needed to reduce the nuclear threat at the global level.

Mr. President,

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons remains a cornerstone of international security. Sessions in preparation for the NPT Review Conference have shown that the atmosphere around the upcoming event has improved considerably and that there is a reason to hope that the failure of 2005 will not be repeated. However, a good climate and good intentions do not guarantee success. There is a need for meaningful commitment by all parties to the Treaty to responsibly and effectively implement its provisions.

You will recall that, in 2007, at the sixtry-second session of the United Nations General Assembly, President Nursultan Nazarbayev urged the nuclear-weapon states "to take action, within the United Nations, to ensure the effectiveness of the NPT and to bring its provisions into line with the existing realities, in order to strengthen the nuclear non-proliferation regime.

So far, unfortunately, we have not been able to achieve the disarmament goals and to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and the emergence of new de facto nuclear-weapon states. There is an urgent need to develop clear mechanisms of putting pressure on those nuclear-weapons states that are operating outside the framework of the NPT and to prevent the withdrawal from the Treaty. It is necessary to ensure an unconditional compliance of its parties with their commitments, embodied in the unity of the three fundamental elements - non-proliferation, peaceful uses of nuclear energy and disarmament.

We hope that the upcoming Review Conference will be able to break the stalemate in the efforts to address the issue of turning the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons into a really effective instrument. As for Kazakhstan, we are working on a set of proposals which, in our view, are consonant with the aspirations of the international community as well as with the proposals that have already been made from this podium. We are looking forward tor an engaging dialogue during the Conference and to its successful and fruitful conclusion.

It is our deep conviction that the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is an important prerequisite of nuclear disarmament. We welcome the decision of the President of the United States to seek the ratification of the Treaty and we hope that this will send an important signal to those countries that have not yet done so.

A decision by some nuclear-weapon States to refrain voluntarily from carrying out nuclear explosions is a positive step but it cannot serve as an alternative to a legally binding document.

Kazakhstan, supporting the CTBT, is actively cooperating with the Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO on all aspects of its work and is making a significant contribution to the strengthening of the verification regime under the Treaty, including the establishment of an International Monitoring System.

A General Assemby resolution adopted, on the initiative of Kazakhstan, in December 2009, and declaring 29 August - the date when the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was officially shut down - as the International Day against Nuclear Tests, is fully consistent with the objectives of the CTBT.

In this regard, I would urge the Conference to support the implementation of that resolution by practical actions.

The entry into force, in March 2009, of the Treaty on a Nuclear-Weapon-Free zone in Central Asia, supported by the United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, is an important contribution by the countries of the region to the international and regional security. I would like to emphasize the strong commitment of the regional states to the completion of the process of institutionalization of the Treaty and their willingness to engage in a constructive dialogue with the five nuclear Powers, in order to sign a protocol on negative security assurances.

During the first Review Meeting of the Parties to the Treaty, held in October 2009, Kazakhstan proposed the development of a regional action plan to enhance nuclear security, prevent nuclear proliferation and counter nuclear terrorism. That initiative will be developed further and brought to the attention of the regional and other states, taking into consideration the outcome of the upcoming summit on nuclear security.

Kazakhstan is a party to thirteen international conventions against terrorist activities, drafted within the framework of the United Nations system.

Our country is one of the most active participants of the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, launched in 2006 by the presidents of the United States and Russia. Kazakhstan has hosted quite a number of activities under the Global Initiative. Very soon, Astana will host a conference, within the Global Initiative, on pressing issues of combating nuclear terrorism, in the light of the world community's efforts to enhance global nuclear security. This will represent yet another contribution by our country to the common cause of nuclear security and combating terrorism.

Due to the fact that terrorism finds fertile ground in unstable and poor countries, we would like to recall the initiative of President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan, launched 15 years ago from the UN rostrum. Back then, Kazakhstan proposed to establish a United Nations Peacekeeping Fund through voluntary contributions by states in the amount of one per cent of their military budgets. That idea was supported by the Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon who proposed to redirect one per cent of the world's military spending to the development goals.

There are good opportunities for the strengthening of the third pillar of the NPT - the right to peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Kazakhstan supports the right of all members of the international community to develop nuclear energy, in strict compliance with the NPT and under the IAEA supervision.

According to experts, nuclear power can become a valid substitute for traditional sources of energy already in the immediate future. Such forecasts are important in the context of the global trend towards a gradual reduction in carbon emissions and a transition to "green" economy. Given the "nuclear renaissance" and the growing interest in nuclear energy displayed by various countries, the Republic of Kazakhstan is ready to make a significant contribution as one of the world's biggest nuclear suppliers. In the past year, Kazakhstan became the world's biggest uranium miner and intends to actively develop cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Along with that, work is under way to ensure nuclear material safety and strengthen the export control system. A Commission on Non-Proliferation of WMD has been established in Kazakhstan, under the country's President, which reviews the current state of affairs in this area and makes recommendations for improving the control systems.

Kazakhstan is a party to many international non-proliferation and export control regimes - the Hague Code of Conduct, the Krakow Initiative, the Nuclear Suppliers Group and the Zangger Committee. Currently, we are working to join the Australian Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR). Although not officially a member, Kazakhstan, in its work, adheres to the Guidelines of the Technology Annex of the MTCR, fully applying the rules of the regime at the national level.

Adhering to the principle of equal access to peaceful nuclear energy, Kazakhstan has supported the idea, proposed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative , to establish an international nuclear fuel bank, under IAEA auspices, and has officially confirmed its readiness to host it on its territory and ensure the proper storage of nuclear fuel. We express our appreciation to those countries that, in principle, have supported Kazakhstan's initiative.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The agenda of the Conference for this year has many important items. During the last session, the delegations tried to break the deadlock that had plagued the Conference for so many years. However, there was an obvious lack of political will to overcome the differences. We hope that, given the serious political changes that I have mentioned above, the stalemate in the work of the Conference will be broken and concrete results will be achieved.

The use of outer space for exclusively peaceful purposes is, in our view, one of the most pressing items on the agenda.

The issue of space arms control, raised more than twenty years ago, thanks to a draft treaty preventing placement of nuclear weapons in outer space, submitted by Russia and China, has got its second wind and has been actively discussed in recent years. This question is particularly relevant in the context of an increasing number of countries involved in and dependent on space programmes. There is a need to advance further the PAROS agenda by engaging other international bodies dealing with issues of space exploration.

As a country that hosts the Baikonur cosmodrome and a nation that is involved in international space cooperation and is actively developing its space programme, on a multilateral basis, Kazakhstan is convinced that security in outer space must remain a central concern of the Conference, and calls for strict observance of the principle of peaceful activities in outer space.

We also support an early start of negotiations on a Treaty Banning the Production of Fissile Materials. The Treaty will make a critical contribution to preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. Thanks to the fissile materials cut-off, the possibility of illegitimate military nuclear programs will be kept to the minimum and the control over the existing materials will be improved while the risk of nuclear terrorism will be greatly reduced

In our view, it is time to proceed to the elaboration of an international legally binding instrument on security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states provided by the nuclear powers.

Only such assurances can effectively address the aspirations of certain non-nuclear-weapon states to acquire nuclear weapons, which they view as a guarantee of their security.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our country has assumed the 2010 Chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Kazakhstan is chairing an organization with a vast experience in the military and political areas and a great potential for transforming it into concrete action. Joint efforts to pursue the objectives that have been set could be made in such areas as the promotion of disarmament and arms control, the enhancement of the non-proliferation regime and the work to address new challenges to peace and security.

The implementation of the Athens Ministerial Declaration of the OSCE on the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, which has already received a positive feedback from the CTBTO and IAEA, could become a major contribution by the OSCE to the strengthening of international security.

Attaching particular importance to the strengthening of the regime of conventional arms control and to the confidence-building and security measures, we hope for the progress in the efforts to ensure the entry into force of the Agreement on Adaptation of the CFE Treaty. The work to update the 1999 Vienna Document should be started immediately.

The military and political dimension of the OSCE activities could become a top priority item on the agenda of the 2010 OSCE Summit, proposed by our country.

We hope to address the issues of regional and global security also through the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA).

Kazakhstan's initiative to convene CICA, put forward in 1992 at the forty-seventh session of the United Nations General Assembly, has now become a real factor in international relations. Over the past years, we have come a long way from the idea of establishing peace and confidence on the Asian continent to the practical mechanisms of collective diplomacy, including the implementation of the Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures.

In June, Turkey will host the third CICA summit, which, we believe, will contribute to the strengthening of a new mechanism to ensure international security.

We are firmly convinced that the use of interaction mechanisms, within the CICA, can make a significant contribution to the resolution of the situation around the North Korean and Iranian nuclear programmes.

Mr. President,

This year, we will witness a lot of events in the area of disarmament and non-proliferation, which is yet another indication of the determination of all states and their leaders to solve the problems together and we sincerely hope for positive results of their efforts, in the interests of security and world peace.

I wish us all success in our work.

Thank you for attention.

Date of issue: 2010-03-05