Russian parliament votes to revoke nuclear test ban treaty
- Russia says the move is to restore parity with the US, which signed but never ratified the 1996 treaty, and will not resume nuclear testing unless the US does
- The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, although it has never fully entered into force
Russia’s parliament took the first step on Tuesday towards revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), blaming what a top lawmaker called the irresponsible attitude of the United States to global security.
Parliament’s lower house, the Duma, voted by 412 to zero, with no abstentions, to approve the withdrawal of the ratification in the first of three readings.
“In the interests of ensuring the security of our country, we are withdrawing the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty,” Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said before the start of Tuesday’s session.
The Russian Federation will do everything to protect its citizens and to maintain global strategic parity
“The Russian Federation will do everything to protect its citizens and to maintain global strategic parity,” Volodin said.
Russia says the aim is to restore parity with the United States, which has signed but never ratified the 1996 treaty, and that it will not resume testing unless Washington does.
The CTBT bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, although it has never fully entered into force.
No country except North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion this century. At least one senior Russian security expert has said Russia should test a nuclear bomb as a warning to the West, but President Vladimir Putin said on October 5 he was not ready to say whether a test was needed or not.
