GENEVA, July 30. /TASS/. The US accusations of Russia’s alleged breach of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) could be an attempt to prepare public opinion for the withdrawal of Washington’s signature from this document, Russia’s Deputy Permanent Representative at the UN Geneva Office and other international organizations Andrei Belousov said on Tuesday.
"The attempts by American colleagues to substantiate their refusal to ratify it [the CTBT] by unfounded claims to Russia over the Treaty’s fulfillment cause sincere bewilderment," the Russian diplomat told a plenary session of the Disarmament Conference.
Washington earlier applied this scheme towards the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Russian diplomat stressed. "Apparently, attempts are being made through the propaganda of Russia’s alleged breaches to prepare the international public opinion for the withdrawal of its [US] signature from the CTBT and then again blame Russia for everything," he noted.
"I want to state firmly that such a trick won’t work anymore," the Russian diplomat stressed.
Russia has been and remains committed to the spirit and the letter of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and "will continue efforts as a responsible state together with other participants for its entry into force," the diplomat pointed out.
The Russian diplomat called on the United States "to revise its position and set an example of a responsible approach towards the CTBT for other states, the ratification by which is essential for its entry into force."
US Permanent Representative Robert Wood also addressed the session saying that his country had made it clear that it would comply with the moratorium on nuclear tests.
US accusations
The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty was approved by the UN General Assembly in September 1996. However, 44 states possessing nuclear weapons or the potential of their creation (their list was compiled using the data of the International Atomic Energy Agency, the IAEA) must ratify the document so that it can enter into force. From this list, 36 states, including Russia, the UK and France, have ratified it. Five more countries — the United States, China, Egypt, Israel and Iran — have signed but have not yet ratified the document while India, North Korea and Pakistan have not inked it.
The nuclear test moratorium has been in effect in Russia for almost three decades. The last test was conducted at the Novaya Zemlya test site on October 24, 1990.
The US Defense Intelligence Agency claimed in its statement on June 13 that Russia had carried out nuclear tests, which caused nuclear explosions. This document was prepared as a follow-up to a statement by Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency Robert Ashley, who stated on May 29 that "the United States believes Russia is probably not adhering to the nuclear testing moratorium in a manner consistent with the zero-yield standard."
Russia has strongly rejected Ashley’s statement. On May 31, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov dismissed the claims as nonsense.