The State Duma Committee will consider the withdrawal of ratification of the nuclear test ban treaty within ten days

State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin instructed the International Affairs Committee to work on the issue of revoking the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty within ten days, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments, as reported on the website of the lower house of parliament.

The issue should be considered before the next meeting of the State Duma council on October 18. Earlier, Volodin said that the withdrawal of ratification “corresponds to the national interests of the state and will be a mirror response from the United States, which never ratified the treaty.”

On October 5, at the Valdai Forum, Vladimir Putin said that Russia, unlike the United States, had ratified a ban on nuclear weapons testing, but “theoretically, this ratification can be withdrawn.” He also spoke about the “successful testing” of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile in the Arctic. The next day, the president's press secretary said that plans to abolish the treaty "do not constitute a statement of intent to conduct nuclear tests."

In early October, the New York Times , citing satellite imagery and aerial data, reported that a remote Russian base in the Arctic - the Pankovo ​​test site on Novaya Zemlya - had seen activity similar to the training that was carried out during the testing of the Burevestnik in 2017 and 2018 .

At the end of September, CNN, also citing satellite imagery, wrote that Russia, the United States and China have increased activity at nuclear testing sites in the past few years.

Russia, the United States and China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty of 1996. Russia ratified it in 2000, the United States did not, and both countries committed to refraining from nuclear testing. In February 2023, Putin said that Russia should be ready to conduct nuclear tests if the United States does so.