MOSCOW, October 13. /TASS/. Russia’s potential revocation of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty is a signal to the US, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.
"We will eventually withdraw the ratification, I think, after the relevant expected decision by the State Duma, but we are not revoking our signature to the treaty. We will continue to act within its framework, as the United States has done for 23 years. I don't want to go into speculation about what might happen later, further on, but for the time being, it’s simply that political and legal parity with the US will be restored," he said. "That in itself is a significant signal to the Americans and everybody else that if they really want to strengthen the treaty and move closer the time of its formal entry into force, they should first of all be concerned about their own position and find ways to make headway toward its ratification by US senators."
The State Duma Council on Monday asked the legislature’s International Affairs Committee to team up with the Russian Foreign Ministry to look into the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a recent meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club that Russia could revoke the ratification of the CTBT, given that the US had not ratified the treaty. He said the State Duma should handle the issue. State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said the move would be in Russia's national interests and would constitute a "response in kind" to the US failure to ratify the treaty.