Putin pulls Russia out of nuclear test ban treaty

02 November 2023 19:56

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law on Russia's withdrawal from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), TASS reports.

The treaty was signed on behalf of Russia on September 24, 1996, in New York and ratified by Russia on May 27, 2000. The document was supposed to become the main international legal instrument for stopping any kind of nuclear testing. To date, however, the treaty has not entered into force because it has not been ratified by 8 of the 44 states that have nuclear weapons or the potential to create them.

According to the document published on the official legal portal, the adopted law was designed to restore parity in nuclear arms control commitments. It is specified that the document creates a legal basis for Russia to withdraw its instrument of ratification, but does not imply the country's withdrawal from the CTBT.

The document will enter into force on the day of its official publication.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier that the withdrawal of ratification of the treaty equalizes the situation in the field of nuclear testing for Moscow and Washington, which never ratified the document. He also pointed out that the withdrawal of the CTBT ratification does not mean that Russia plans to conduct nuclear tests.

Caliber.Az

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