MOSCOW, November 3. /TASS/. Washington’s soonest ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty will benefit global security, Russian Ambassador to the United States Anatoly Antonov told Russia’s Channel One.
"The sooner the United States of America abandons its faulty arms control policies, the sooner the United States of America realizes that global problems can be resolved only through a collective action, the sooner they ratify this deal [CTBT] <…> the better for international peace and global security," Antonov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier signed a law according to which Russia withdraws ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. 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.
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.