Duma of Russia The (Lower House) this Tuesday approved, on first reading, a bill annulling the ratification of the law. Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). All 412 Duma deputies voted in favor means the cancellation of the measure agreement signed in 1996 to limit nuclear tests.
Parliament Speaker Viacheslav Volodin stated on his Telegram channel that the permanence of the agreement was “cancelled for good.” ensuring Russia’s security“. “We have waited 23 years United States of America “Ratify this agreement, but Washington did not do this because of its double standards and irresponsibility towards global security,” Volodin said. added Volodin. Although the Duma appears to be moving to withdraw Russia from the CTBT, there are still two votes left for this measure to be final.
In the same message, the speaker of the lower house assured that “dialogue is needed within the framework of the principles of mutual respect, absence of double standards and non-interference in the affairs of sovereign states”, therefore Russia must preserve “global equality”. ” “.
Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty ratified United Nations In 1996, 185 countries signed it. Even so, many countries with nuclear weapons, such as North Korea, China, Iran, Israel, Egypt, India, Pakistan and the United States, have not ratified the agreement.
“As the President of Russia announced, We will not be the first to conduct nuclear tests, Vladimir Putin said in his speech to the Federal Assembly on February 21, 2023. Russia will do these things only if the United States takes this step,” said Vladimir Yermakov, Director of the Department of Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Atomic threats
The nuclear danger has come to light on different occasions since Russia’s offensive against Ukraine began. The last of these came from Putin himself; He himself said in early October that Russia’s nuclear response would “leave no chance of survival for any enemy.” Later, the president noted that his country had a mission to “build a new world” to fight against the West, which he condemned for its “arrogance” and need for an enemy.
Although the nuclear threat has been raised many times since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the Russian President has assured that they are not considering using nuclear weapons for now, despite the demands of some people close to Russia, such as the Chechen governor. Ramzan KadyrovClaiming that it was used on the Ukrainian front. The Russian President said, “I do not see the need for this. There is no situation that threatens the existence of the Russian state today.”