Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed legislation withdrawing Russia’s ratification of the global treaty prohibiting nuclear weapons tests, a move condemned by the organisation that promotes adherence to the landmark arms control treaty.
The move, though expected, demonstrates the deep chill between the United States and Russia, whose ties are at their lowest point since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis due to the war in Ukraine and what Moscow sees as Washington’s attempts to stymie the emergence of a new multipolar world order.
Moscow claims that its withdrawal from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is merely to align Russia with the United States, which signed but never ratified the treaty.
According to Russian diplomats, Russia will not resume nuclear testing unless Washington does.
Some Western arms control experts are concerned that Russia may be inching towards a nuclear test to intimidate and evoke fear amid the Ukraine war.
The treaty established a global network of observation posts that can detect the sound, shockwaves or radioactive fallout from a nuclear explosion.
