Kazakhstan calls for restoring dialogue among nuclear powers at CTBTO session
On March 10, a Kazakhstani delegation took part in the 66th session of Working Group “B” of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO). The meeting was chaired by Erlan Batyrbekov, Director General of the National Nuclear Center of Kazakhstan, Qazinform News Agency reports, citing the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In his remarks, Mukhtar Tleuberdi, Kazakhstan’s Permanent Representative to the International Organizations in Vienna, stressed that current challenges to the international security architecture demand urgent collective responses and the restoration of mutual trust among states.
He recalled President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev’s initiative, announced at the 80th session of the UN General Assembly, to resume high-level dialogue among nuclear-weapon states. The proposal seeks to reduce the risk of nuclear weapons use and reinforce the regimes of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). Kazakhstan reiterated its readiness to provide a platform for such negotiations.
Tleuberdi also highlighted that in 2026 Kazakhstan and the international community will commemorate the 35th anniversary of the closure of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, coinciding with the 30th anniversary of the signing of the CTBT. The closure of the site marked a historic milestone, contributing to the establishment of a global moratorium on nuclear testing and paving the way for negotiations that led to the adoption of the CTBT.
Kazakhstan reaffirmed its commitment to international obligations and its contribution to the CTBTO verification regime by supplying real-time data from five International Monitoring System (IMS) stations located on its territory.
The 66th session of CTBTO Working Group “B” will continue until March 19, 2026. At its conclusion, States Signatories are expected to review and adopt the final report of the meeting.
Earlier, Qazinform reported that Kazakhstan had assumed chairmanship of Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone.
