CTBT ratification by U.S., other key countries would give new impetus to disarmament, non-proliferation processes - Russian Foreign Ministry
MOSCOW. April 26 (Interfax) - Moscow is convinced that the international nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime will be inefficient without the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty's (CTBT) ratification by Washington and other pivotal countries.
"CTBT ratification by Washington and other key countries would allow for removing 'gaps' in the area of disarmament and would impart a new impetus and dynamics to the processes of disarmament and non-proliferation, as well as foster the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov and Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo said in a joint article published in the Kommersant newspaper.
"The U.S. should review its CTBT stance and discuss the opportunities of this treaty and its significance for national and international security in the Senate," the article said.
"All countries, including the U.S. and other key countries, which remain outside the treaty, benefit from having a nuclear test ban imposed by the CTBT," it also said.
"Without their ratification of the treaty, there are still certain possibilities for resuming nuclear tests, while long-term CTBT legal and practical foundations, as well as the international nuclear weapons non-proliferation regime as a whole, cannot be considered full-fledged and efficient," the authors said.
"Out of the eight key countries which have to be parties to the CTBT [for its entry into effect], the U.S., China, Egypt, Iran and Israel have not ratified the CTBT, while North Korea, India and Pakistan have not even signed it," the article says.
"Hence, the Treaty remains in an indeterminate state," the authors said.
On September 23, 2016, the UN Security Council approved Resolution 2310 with 42 countries voting for it, which insistently calls on the aforementioned eight countries to ratify the treaty without delay, as well as an appeal to all countries to abstain from conducting nuclear tests. "It is important to put these intentions into practice. To start with, the eight remaining countries that have delayed the ratification of the treaty should review their approaches," the article says.