(VOVWORLD) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed a law previously passed by the State Duma and the Federation Council revoking Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
 Russia launches a Bulava ballistic missile from Generalissimus Suvorov nuclear submarine in the White Sea, November 3, 2022. (File photo: VNA) |
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move ensures abalance between Russia and the US in nuclear testing as Washington has not ratified this treaty. He saidit does not mean Moscow plans to conduct a nuclear test.
The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a multilateral deal banning all nuclear tests, whether for peaceful or military purposes. It was passed by the UN General Assembly in 1996 and signed by all 187 UN members.
But the treaty is not legally valid because it was neverratified by 8 of the 44 countries who possess nuclear weapons or couldproducenuclear weapons.