MOSCOW, April 26./TASS/. Comprehensive settlement on the Korean Peninsula should include North Korea's pledge not to conduct nuclear tests, says an article by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov and Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, published on the website of the Kommersant daily.

The authors mark that today the CTBT enjoys practically an overwhelming support and is one of the backbones of international security. "The treaty was signed by 183 states, of which 166 have ratified it, thus creating a powerful coalition against nuclear tests," the article said. "Only one state - North Korea - has been conducting nuclear tests in the 21st century," it emphasized.

"Continued nuclear tests in the DPRK, including a possibility of its staging new nuclear explosions, remains a fact that has a negative impact on continuing with the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," the article marks. "Comprehensive settlement of the situation on the Korean peninsula should include North Korea’s pledge not to conduct nuclear tests," it said.