Russian President Vladimir Putin signs a Bill, revoking Russia’s ratification of global nuclear test ban

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a Bill today revoking Russia’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban, a move that Moscow said was needed to establish parity with the United States. Both houses of the Russian parliament voted last month to revoke Moscow’s ratification of the Bill.

Putin has said that rescinding the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, also known as the CTBT, would “mirror” the stand taken by the U.S., which has signed but not ratified the nuclear test ban.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said last month that Moscow would continue to respect the ban and will only resume nuclear tests if Washington does first.

The CTBT, adopted in 1996, bans all nuclear explosions anywhere in the world, but the treaty was never fully implemented. In addition to the U.S., it is yet to be ratified by China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran, and Egypt.