Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting via video link with members of the Security Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, October 27, 2023. Sputnik/Gavriil Grigorov/Pool acquire license rights via Portal/File Photo
- Putin revokes ratification of the Russian nuclear deal
- Moscow says the move brings it into line with the US
- Treaty organization describes move as “deeply regrettable”
- Russia says it will continue to abide by the treaty
- Western experts fear that Moscow is heading for a test
Nov 2 (Portal) – President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Thursday forcing Russia to withdraw from ratifying the global treaty banning nuclear weapons tests. The move was condemned by the organization that promotes compliance with the landmark arms control pact.
Although the move was expected, it is evidence of the deep chill between the United States and Russia, whose relations are at their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis because of the war in Ukraine and what Moscow describes as attempts by Washington to encourage the emergence of a To prevent conflict New multipolar world order.
Moscow says the deratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) is simply aimed at bringing Russia into line with the United States, which signed but never ratified the treaty. Russia will not resume nuclear testing unless Washington does so, Russian diplomats say.
They also claim that the move will not change the nuclear posture of Russia, which has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, nor the way it shares information about its nuclear activities, as Moscow will remain a signatory to the treaty.
But some Western arms control experts fear that Russia is moving toward a nuclear test to intimidate and stoke fear amid the Ukraine war.
Putin said on October 5 that he was not ready to say whether Russia should resume nuclear tests or not, after some Russian security experts and lawmakers called for testing a nuclear bomb as a warning to the West.
If such a move actually takes place, it could usher in a new era of nuclear testing at large nuclear power plants.
Robert Floyd, head of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, whose mission is to promote recognition of the treaty and establish its verification system to ensure that no nuclear tests go undetected, condemned Russia’s move.
“Deeply regrettable”
“Today’s decision by the Russian Federation to withdraw its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is very disappointing and deeply regrettable,” Floyd, who had tried to persuade senior Russian officials to change their minds, said on X. formerly known as Twitter.
The treaty established a global network of observation posts capable of detecting the sound, shock waves or radioactive fallout of a nuclear explosion.
Post-Soviet Russia has not conducted a nuclear test. The Soviet Union last conducted a test in 1990 and the United States in 1992. No country except North Korea has conducted a test involving a nuclear explosion this century.
Andrey Baklitskiy, senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, said Russia’s deatification of the CTBT was part of a “slippery slope” toward resuming testing.
This is part of a worrying trend in recent years that has led to arms control agreements being abandoned or suspended, he said on X last month.
“We don’t know which steps will follow and when, but we know where this path ends. And we don’t want to go there,” he said.
Putin’s approval of the deratification law was posted on a government website, which said the decision took effect immediately. The Russian parliament has already approved the move.
Reporting by Portal, Writing by Andrew Osborn, Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Gareth Jones
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