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US has no rights to discuss others’ commitment to nuclear test moratorium — diplomat

Sergey Vershinin stressed that the United States’ refusal to ratify the treaty in 2018 was an "evidently destabilizing event"

UNITED NATIONS, September 22. /TASS/. Washington has no right to discuss other countries’ commitment to nuclear test moratorium until it ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Vershinin said on Friday.

"We are convinced that the country, which is not planning to ratify the CTBT, has neither formal nor moral grounds or rights to discuss the issue of other states’ commitment to the treaty," he said at the Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

He stressed that the United States’ refusal to ratify the treaty in 2018 was an "evidently destabilizing event." "Instead of revising its negative decision not in words but in deed, the American administration is seeking to cast a shadow on other states, including Russia, accusing them of destructive actions concerning the treaty," he added.