VIENNA, November 1. / TASS/. Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s envoy to international organizations in Vienna, said that Moscow’s deratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty puts the country on par with the US, which has not ratified the agreement.

"Today, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law revoking Russia's ratification of the CTBT. This law puts Russia on an equal footing with the United States, which signed but did not ratify the treaty," Ulyanov wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law according to which Russia withdraws ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The document was published on an official government website.

Russia signed the treaty in New York on September 24, 1996, and ratified it on May 27, 2000. The pact was designed to become the main tool of international law to stop any kind of nuclear testing. However, to date, the treaty has not entered into force, as it has not been ratified by 8 out of 44 states that have nuclear weapons or the potential to build them.

A memo to the law said the legislation aims to restore parity in nuclear arms control commitments. It however said that while the law provides a legal basis for Russia to revoke the ratification, it does not mean the country is withdrawing from the CTBT.