Kazakhstan
Kazakhstan is an example to be followed by other states, as it has adhered to all of the seven key treaties in the legal architecture on disarmament and non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in addition to being party to a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) treaty. In 2024, the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor found Kazakhstan compliant with nine of the prohibitions in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, but non-compliant with the tenth: the prohibition on assisting a prohibited activity.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | Yes (Ratified 2019) | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1994) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2002) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2008, Semipalatinsk) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1995) | |
| AP with the IAEA | Yes (In force 2007) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Acceded 2007) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2000) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2024 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| Test | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Non-compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2024) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | Yes |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 16 (9.5%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | Yes |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | 1-10 tons |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
At the Second Meeting of States Parties (2MSP) to the TPNW in 2023, Kazakhstan was confirmed as the President of the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) in March 2025. Kazakhstan's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murat Nurtleu, said that Kazakhan’s priorities during its presidency would be to establish an international trust fund for victim assistance and environmental remediation, to make progress in universalising the Treaty, and to ‘encourage closer dialogue’ between nuclear-armed states and TPNW supporters.1 In addition to presiding over the 3MSP, Kazakhstan currently serves as a co-chair, together with Kiribati, of an informal working group on victim assistance, environmental remediation, and international cooperation and assistance under the TPNW. In this capacity, it held consultations with various stakeholders in 2024, including communities affected by the use and testing of nuclear weapons.
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2024, Minister of Foreign Affairs Nurtleu noted that Kazakhstan was ‘subjected to the devastating effects of 456 [Soviet] nuclear tests’. ‘Kazakhstan is therefore deeply concerned by the escalating rhetoric of nuclear threats,’ he said, urging those countries that have not yet joined the TPNW ‘to do so as soon as possible for the safety, stability and survival of our world’.2
At a high-level UN event to commemorate the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2024, Kazakhstan reiterated its call for the universalisation of the TPNW and highlighted its advocacy for ‘stronger international assistance to victims of nuclear testing’ and the establishment of a trust fund to facilitate such assistance.3
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee session in July 2024, Kazakhstan delivered a joint statement on behalf of the TPNW's states parties and signatories appealing to all states that have not yet joined the Treaty to do so ‘without delay and without preconditions’ and ‘to engage cooperatively with the Treaty and work with us in support of our shared goal of a world free of nuclear weapons’.4 It delivered a similar statement in the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2024.5
In August 2024, Kazakhstan hosted a meeting in its capital, Astana, to foster greater cooperation among states parties to NWFZ treaties covering different geographic regions.6
Kazakhstan was one of the co-sponsors for the 2024 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.7
Kazakhstan hosts the Sary-Shagan testing range, which was established by the Soviet government in 1956, and which is intermittently used as a destination point for flight-tests with Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), including in 2024.8 The Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor considers this practice incompatible with the TPNW’s prohibition on assisting with the development and possession of nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan has maintained that the flight tests do not constitute a breach of the TPNW.9
Recommendations
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Kazakhstan should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Kazakhstan should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures, including by requesting that Russia refrain from all testing of nuclear-capable missiles at Sary Shagan.