Russia to withdraw from nuclear test ban treaty

Russia is planning to withdraw from an international treaty banning nuclear weapons testing, paving the way for a possible resumption of tests, a member of the Russian parliament told the Interfax news agency on Tuesday.

Duma member Adalby Shkhagoshev said a mechanism would be decided on within a week to withdraw Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which has never gone into force.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said that the move would create preconditions as they exist in the United States, which has not ratified the treaty adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996.

Last week, Duma chairman Vyacheslav Volodin announced that Russia's ratification would be withdrawn in a decision that has to be taken by the lower house of parliament.

The Kremlin has made clear that the move does not mean that nuclear testing will resume immediately. But President Vladimir Putin added that Moscow had to be able to conduct tests, just as Washington was able to.

And Ryabkov emphasised that Russia would only engage in nuclear testing if the U.S. did so as well. Russia had waited 23 years for movement on ratification from Washington, he added.

"We have no other option but to adjust our position," Ryabkov said.

Putin recently said that its testing sites needed to be prepared for the resumption of such tests. Russia continues to test nuclear-capable missiles, but without nuclear warheads.

The CTBT organization in Vienna operates a global network of monitoring stations capable of verifying nuclear tests based on pressure waves and nuclear and chemical traces. Russia will continue to provide data from its own 32 stations.

All countries other than North Korea abide by its provisions.