On Wednesday, Russia passed legislation to withdraw ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
At a plenary session in Moscow, the Russian State Duma voted in favour of withdrawing ratification of the agreement.
The document submitted to the State Duma on 13 October repeals Article 1 of the law “On Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty”, cancelling its ratification.
To enter into force, the bill must be approved by the upper house of the Russian parliament, the Federation Council, in three readings. It must then be signed by President Vladimir Putin.
The change, made at Putin’s insistence, should put Russia on equal footing with the United States, which signed but did not ratify the 1996 treaty, while Russia ratified it in 2000. The change comes against the backdrop of worsening relations with the US, particularly in connection with the Ukrainian conflict.
Putin has said that while some experts have talked about the need to conduct nuclear tests, he hasn’t yet formed an opinion on the issue.
The treaty, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, although it has never fully entered into force. In addition to the US, it is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran and Egypt.
