Kazakhstan Works on Nonaggression Pact With Russia

ALMATY, Kazakhstan — Russia, Kazakhstan, the United States and Britain are at work on a nonaggression treaty designed to head off friction between the two former Soviet republics, Defense Secretary William J. Perry said Saturday.

“There will be four signatories to the security assurance when this is reached,” Perry said after a day of meetings with leaders of this Central Asian nation.

“We would be agreeing to not use force, to use only peaceful means to resolve problems that may emerge between any of these countries.”

Perry quickly added that the United States does not propose using military force to protect Kazakhstan.

“It is an assurance, not a guarantee that we would go to war on any issue that arose with Kazakhstan,” he said.

The surprise disclosure came at a news briefing with Perry’s counterpart, Defense Minister Sagadat Nurmagambetov, for local and Western reporters at an Almaty conference center.

Perry is in the midst of a weeklong trip to Russia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Belarus, the four former Soviet republics that possess nuclear weapons. His agenda includes arms control, defense conversion and the role of former Eastern Bloc states in the NATO alliance.