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Russia‘s Duma council is set to meet on Monday to discuss the possible revocation of the country’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The move could pave the way for Russia to resume nuclear testing for the first time since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The meeting comes after President Vladimir Putin said last week that, while he doesn’t believe Russia’s nuclear doctrine needs updating, it could consider revoking its ratification of the CTBT, a development which the United States said on Friday would endanger “the global norm” against nuclear tests.
First drafted in 1996, the CTBT has been signed by 187 countries and ratified by 178. The United States, China, Egypt, Iran, and Israel have signed but not ratified it. India, North Korea and Pakistan have not signed at all.
According to the United Nations, 10 nuclear tests have taken place since the CTBT: India and Pakistan conducted two each in 1998, while North Korea held tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 (twice) and 2017. The United States last conducted a nuclear test in 1992 while the Russian Federation, which inherited most of the Soviet Union’s nuclear arsenal, has never done so.
But signs have emerged that testing could resume, with CNN reporting in September on satellite images which showed growing activity at nuclear test sites in Russia, China and the United States. In 2020, the Washington Post said the then-Trump administration had discussed whether to hold a nuclear test.
mf/nm (Reuters, AFP, dpa)
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