MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. Russia doubts that the US will ratify a protocol to the Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone (CANWFZ) treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on Friday.
"We have no confidence in regard to the US, we speak openly about this," Ryabkov told the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, which is considering the protocol on Friday.
"We stress that we are concerned and alarmed about the situation around great difficulties that the documents in the sphere of ensuring security and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons are facing when passing through the Senate of the US Congress," he said.
"But the US administration stresses its firm determination in the contacts to seek the ratification of this protocol," Ryabkov said.
The United Kingdom and France have ratified the protocol while China’s National People's Congress is currently considering the document and the ratification is expected in around two months, Ryabkov said.
Russia signed the Protocol on May 6, 2014 simultaneously with all the states possessing nuclear weapons but made some reservations in it. Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted the protocol to the treaty to the State Duma for ratification last month.
The Central Asian Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone treaty was signed in Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan, on September 8, 2006 by representatives of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and came into force on March 21, 2009.
All the participants to the Treaty undertake not to develop, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or have control over any nuclear weapon, not to allow its stationing or transportation by any means, its testing or use, and also undertake not to allow in their territory any such actions by other states.