Putin signs Russia’s withdrawal from treaty banning nuclear tests – News

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed this Thursday (2) the law that revokes the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), with the conflict in Ukraine and the crisis with the West as Background.

The 1996 treaty bans all nuclear weapons testing, although it never came into force because some key countries — including the United States and China — never ratified it.

Putin said in early October that his country could revoke its ratification of the CTBT in response to the fact that the United States never ratified it.

“I’m not ready to say whether or not we should resume testing,” he added, while praising the development of new missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

Use of nuclear weapons

Since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, in February 2022, senior Russian officials have threatened on several occasions to use nuclear weapons, although, at other times, Putin has shown caution in this regard.

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Last week, the Russian president oversaw ballistic missile exercises to prepare his troops for a retaliatory “massive nuclear strike.”

The bill to revoke the treaty was approved by the Russian Parliament last month.

Although it never came into force, the agreement was ratified by 178 countries, including nuclear powers France and the United Kingdom, and has symbolic value.

Its supporters say it establishes an international norm against testing nuclear weapons, but its critics say the deal’s potential remains unfulfilled due to the lack of ratification by the main nuclear powers.

The Russian Parliament ratified the agreement in June 2000, six months after Putin assumed the presidency.

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