Russian parliament bosses to discuss revoking ratification of nuclear test ban treaty

After President Vladimir Putin raised the prospect of Russia resuming nuclear testing for the first time in more than three decades, the heads of the Russian parliamentary body will debate withdrawing ratification of the treaty forbidding such tests on Monday.

The commencement of a new nuclear arms race between the major countries who suspended nuclear testing in the years following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 may be signaled by Russia, the United States, or China restarting their nuclear tests.

Putin stated on Thursday that Moscow did not need to update its nuclear policy, which outlines the circumstances under which he would detonate a nuclear weapon. Still, he was not yet prepared to decide whether testing should restart.

The head of the Kremlin said that since the US had signed the CTBT but not ratified it, Russia may consider rescinding its ratification.

Vyacheslav Volodin, the head of Russia’s legislature and the main body responsible for organizing the country’s legislative process, announced that he would bring up the issue at the upcoming meeting of the Duma Council.

On Monday, it will convene at 4 p.m. (1300 GMT).

Asserting that Moscow will withdraw its endorsement of the agreement on Friday, Russia’s representative to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) was blasted by Washington as imperiling “the global norm” against nuclear test explosions.

The proliferation of nuclear bomb tests during the Cold War, in the opinion of some scientists and activists, showed the foolishness of nuclear brinksmanship that may ultimately wipe out humanity and poison the world for hundreds of thousands of years.

Atomic testing
But while China works to increase its nuclear arsenal to match its standing as a growing superpower, the Ukraine war has increased tension between Moscow and Washington to its greatest level since the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962.

Russia is warning the United States by rescinding the ratification that it can radically alter nuclear planning practices after the Cold War.

Eight specific holdouts are still required to sign and ratify the CTBT, which 178 nations have already approved after 187 nations signed it.

Israel, the United States, China, Egypt, Iran, and others have signed it. Pakistan, North Korea, and India have not ratified.

The United States last conducted a test in 1992, and the Soviet Union in 1990. Russia has never done so despite receiving the majority of the Soviet Union’s nuclear weapons. However, there are indications that the testing could restart.

According to a CNN report last month, satellite photographs revealed increased activity at nuclear test sites in China, Russia, and the United States. The Washington Post reported in 2020 that the Trump administration had spoken about conducting nuclear tests.

Since the CTBT, ten nuclear tests have been conducted. According to the United Nations, North Korea conducted tests in 2006, 2009, 2013, 2016 (twice), and 2017, while India and Pakistan each carried out two in 1998.