MOSCOW, August 29. /TASS/. Russia is concerned about the fact that the US has not signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and calls on all countries that have not yet done so to sign and ratify the document, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement published on its VKontakte page on the occasion of the International Day against Nuclear Tests.

The ministry recalled that the CTBT has always been the main instrument for stopping nuclear tests, but the document adopted in 1996 never entered into force. "The fact that the United States, one of the world's biggest nuclear powers, is among those countries still refusing to ratify this important document, remains a cause for deep concern. Although almost all nuclear powers (whether recognized as such under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty or as members of the "unofficial" club) have adopted unilateral moratoria on nuclear testing, a voluntary renunciation in this form is not enough," the statement said.

"The Russian Federation has consistently advocated turning the CTBT into a fully operational international legal mechanism. We regularly call on all states that have not yet done so to immediately sign and ratify the treaty," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed.

The CTBT bans nuclear charge test explosions as well as nuclear blasts for peaceful purposes. The ban applies to all areas (in the atmosphere, in space, underwater and underground) and is absolute and comprehensive. The treaty has now been ratified by 173 states, but it has not entered into force because the United States, China, Egypt, Israel, and Iran have not ratified it and India, Pakistan, and North Korea have not signed it.