Russia is withdrawing from the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

The document has already been published on the official legal information portal. Its content states that the law will come into force as soon as it is announced. On Thursday, Vladimir Putin also signed a law abolishing the obligation to notify the Council of Europe of the introduction of martial law in the country.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996. The document was subsequently ratified by Russia, among others. However, the US and China refused to accept the document.

It was the inability of the Russian Federation’s main rivals to sign the treaty that led to Putin’s decision to withdraw its ratification. On October 5, the President of Russia stated that this situation gave the Russian authorities reasons to withdraw ratification.

On October 18, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted the relevant law, and on October 25 it was approved by the Federation Council.

Nuclear threats

At the end of October, Vladimir Putin conducted training for the strategic deterrence forces. During the exercises, Russian soldiers prepared to carry out “a massive nuclear strike by strategic strike forces in response to an enemy nuclear attack.”

At the same time, as the Western media notes, Putin has recently toned down his rhetoric on the use of nuclear weapons somewhat, and instead looked for other ways to use his arsenal to create a threat to the West.

China and the US are in talks

Meanwhile, China and the United States will discuss nuclear arms control.

China’s Foreign Ministry said after Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s visit to Washington that the two countries will “hold consultations on arms control and non-proliferation” in the coming days.

The arms negotiations will be led by Mallory Stewart, a senior Foreign Ministry official, and Sun Xiaobo, head of the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s arms control department.