US "disturbed" by Russia’s plan to reverse nuclear test ban ratification

The United States said it was “disturbed” by a Russian envoy’s announcement that Moscow would reverse its ratification of a 1996 treaty that banned the testing of nuclear weapons.

Russia’s envoy to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Mikhail Ulyanov, said on October 6 that Moscow will revoke its ratification of the pact, Al Jazeera reports.

The announcement by Ulyanov added new fuel to tensions between the world’s largest nuclear weapons powers amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US military support for Kyiv.

Ulyanov said on social media that “Russia plans to revoke ratification [which took place in the year 2000] of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty [CTBT]”.

“The aim is to be on equal footing with the US who signed the treaty, but didn’t ratify it. Revocation doesn’t mean the intention to resume nuclear tests,” he said.

Though Washington signed but has not ratified the CTBT, it has observed a moratorium on nuclear weapons test explosions since 1992.

Responding to Russia’s announcement, the US State Department said it was “disturbed” by the move.

“We are disturbed by the comments of Ambassador Ulyanov in Vienna today,” a US State Department spokesperson said in a statement.

Russia should not be “wielding arms control and irresponsible nuclear rhetoric in a failing attempt to coerce other states”, the State Department added, appearing to suggest that Moscow’s plan to withdraw from the ratification of the treaty was aimed at pressuring the US and other countries who are supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces.