Russian parliament’s lower house votes for revocation of nuclear test ban treaty
CTBT
The Russian parliament on Wednesday (Oct 18) passed a law that revokes Russia’s ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The lawmakers of Parliament’s lower house, the Russian State Duma, unanimously voted 415 votes to zero to annul the treaty at a plenary session in Moscow.
The move follows the request made by President Vladimir Putin on October 5 to make efforts to "mirror" the stance of the United States, which has signed but never ratified the 1996 agreement.
"We understand our responsibility to our citizens, we are protecting our country. What is happening in the world today is the exclusive fault of the United States," parliament speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.
Putin wants to mirror US' stance
The bill was introduced on Tuesday, with parliament speaker Volodin hinting that Moscow might withdraw from the treaty altogether, adding that it would keep Washington guessing about its intentions.
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"And what we will do next - whether we remain a party to the treaty or not, we will not tell them. We must think about global security, the safety of our citizens and act in their interests," he said.
The law will now go to the upper house, and then to Putin for his nod.
Russia has said that it will remain a signatory to the CTBT, signed in 2000, and continue to supply data to the global monitoring system which alerts the world to any nuclear test.
Since CTBT came to fore, 10 nuke tests have happened
The development comes amidst heightened tensions between the US and Russia over the Ukraine invasion that is set to enter the 20th month.
Russia, after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, has never officially declared that it carried out nuclear tests since ratifying the CTBT. The last known test was done in 1990, following which the United States did it in 1992.
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Since the CTBT, which prohibits tests involving nuclear explosions, 10 nuclear tests have taken place.
India conducted two in 1998, Pakistan also two in 1998, and North Korea conducted tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 (twice), and 2017, according to the United Nations, said a Reuters report.
(With inputs from agencies)
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