GENEVA, July 24. /TASS/. Russia believes that Washington is not interested in ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), because it has made no practical measures in that regard since 1999, a senior Russian diplomat has said.

Deputy Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-proliferation and Arms Control Mikhail Kondratenkov told the Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that the US Congress "denied to ratify the Treaty under an invented pretext."

"Since then, Washington has made no practical steps in this regard," he continued. "We view the allegations that the Treaty cannot be passed through the Congress as a poor excuse. Consequently, we have concluded that the American establishment is not interested in ratifying the CTBT."

The diplomat went on to say that Russia’s withdrawal of its ratification of the treaty "has become a natural response to the disparity in obligations with the United States, which had ensued and lasted for a certain period of time."

At the same time, Russia continues to take full part in the CTBT process and has recently "completed our segment of the International Monitoring System, the largest certified segment to date."

"We stand ready to return to the issue of the CTBT ratification as soon as the United States ratifies it," Kondratenkov said.

The Second Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 11th Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is under way in Geneva on July 22 - August 2. The review conference itself will be held in New York in 2026.

About CTBT

The United States held its last nuclear test in 1992. About four years later, in 1996, a total of 187 countries signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Moscow 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.

On November 2, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law according to which Russia withdraws ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. 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.