President Vladimir Putin signed a law on Thursday, the 2nd of November, revoking Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. He said the move was intended to put Moscow “on the same page” as the US, reports Reuters.
Putin’s approval of the deratification law was published on the government’s website, which said the decision would take effect immediately.
Russia reportedly said it would not resume nuclear tests unless the US did,
and the cancellation of ratification would not change its nuclear weapons policy or the way it shares information about its nuclear activities. The US signed but did not ratify the 1996 treaty and Putin wants Russia to take a similar position.
Western arms control experts are concerned that Russia might conduct a test to intimidate people amid the Ukraine conflict, but Russian officials deny this suggestion. Nor has Putin confirmed whether Russia should resume nuclear tests, despite calls by some Russian security experts and lawmakers for a test as a warning to the West.
Western experts worry that a possible Russian nuclear test could usher in a new era of nuclear tests by major powers.
Russia has not conducted a nuclear test since post-Soviet times – the Soviet Union last did so in 1990 and the US in 1992.
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