BEIJING, October 30. /TASS/. Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu dismissed the West's allegations against Russia of lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, including due to the withdrawal of ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), as completely unfounded.

"These accusations are completely unfounded. Russia's nuclear doctrine has not changed and still allows for the use of nuclear weapons only in two situations: in response to an enemy's nuclear strike or if Russia's existence is threatened, even if conventional weapons are used against it," he said at the 10th Xiangshan Security Forum.

On September 24, 1996, Russia signed the agreement in New York, and it was ratified on May 27, 2000. This multilateral agreement was supposed to be the primary international legal instrument for putting an end to all types of nuclear tests. However, the treaty has yet to enter into force because it has not been ratified by 8 of the 44 states that have nuclear weapons or the capability to develop them. According to Russian lawmakers, the failure of a number of countries, including the United States, to comply with internal procedures required for the treaty's entry into force shows their unwillingness to assume the full scope of relevant obligations and forces Russia to take retaliatory measures in order to balance the situation.