US may be prepping site in Nevada to test nukes, Russian diplomat warns

Russian Politics & Diplomacy April 16, 2020, 12:36

The diplomat stressed that Russia did not take any actions violating its obligations on banning nuclear tests

MOSCOW, April 16. /TASS/. The United States may be on the way to bringing its nuclear test site in Nevada on high alert, as many signs attest, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS on Thursday.

"The United States, as many signs attest, including publications citing organizations engaged in the United States in maintaining their nuclear arsenal in combat readiness, may well be bringing their test site in Nevada on high alert," he said.

The diplomat added that Russia never did anything whatsoever that allegedly violated its obligations on banning nuclear tests.

"As for the barrage of criticism coming from Washington for more than half a year now that we allegedly do not fully comply with our moratorium on nuclear tests, we repeat once again that we did not take any steps that would include elements of deviation from our obligations stemming from our unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing and from our ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)," he said commenting on a report by the US Department of State on the "Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments" issued on Wednesday.

Ryabkov stressed that the United States, as a country that formally expressed its unwillingness to ratify the accord, had no right to hurl any accusations on this score.

He pointed out that Washington’s actions looked like a disinformation campaign that the United States had launched when it was preparing to unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. "At that time, they [the Americans] tried to find an excuse to create a suitable propaganda background for their subsequent withdrawal from the treaty, blaming others. By doing so, the United States is sowing uncertainty in the international community over what is going on in this area. We urge the United States to abandon the growing practice of misinforming the global community about what is happening," he emphasized.

According to the US Department of State’s report on the "2019 Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments," which was submitted to Congress, Washington continues to believe that Russia allegedly conducted nuclear tests last year.

 

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