US, UK, France say ‘NO’ to nuke-free Central Asia
US fears Treaty could ban transit by its nuke capable ships, aircraft - Desires to keep corridor open for
its nuclear weapons in the region
DM Monitoring

UNITED NATIONS—The U.N. ambassadors of Britain, France and the United States have sent a letter emphasizing their continued opposition to a proposal to create a nuclear-weapons free zone in Central Asia, according to a copy obtained Tuesday.
The letter, dated Monday and sent to the U.N. ambassadors of the five Central Asian nations, says that a draft treaty to create the zone still does not address their biggest concerns and that further discussions are needed. It calls for consultations "very soon”.
The five nations agreed to the draft text for a Central Asian nuclear-free zone in February.
Such nuclear-weapon free zones can be signed internally but gain an enormous boost with the support of the five official nuclear-weapon states Russia, China, Britain, France, and the United States. Russia and China have already said they support the treaty proposal.
While the letter does not state the objections, the text of the draft contains language that Britain, France and the United States have long opposed. In particular, they object to ambiguous language that could give previous security agreements precedence over the treaty.
One concern, for example is a 1992 treaty that Russia signed with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan which Moscow claims could allow missiles to be deployed in the region.
"A nuclear weapons free zone treaty must ban from the territory of its parties the deployment of nuclear weapons by anyone, no exceptions whatsoever," US mission spokesman Richard Grenell said.
Central Asia includes five nations: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. They had originally put forward a proposal for a nuclear-weapon free zone in 1997, but divisions both internal and external over the text have stalled progress.
The United States previously expressed concern that the treaty could ban transit by "nuclear powered or nuclear-capable ships and aircraft”.
The apparent fear is that the United States does not want to limit military movement through the region, which lies along key routes to Afghanistan and Iran, which the United States claims is developing nuclear weapons. The United States also has forces stationed in Kyrgyzstan.