Putin formally lifts Russian ban on nuclear weapons testing 

Moscow, Nov. 2, (dpa/GNA) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday withdrew Russia’s ratification of the ban on nuclear weapons testing, potentially paving the way for the practice for the first time in decades. 

The move was expected, as Russia officially launched its withdrawal process last month. Russia’s revocation was codified in a decree published in Russia’s official legislative database on Thursday. 

Putin had previously justified the withdrawal from the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) by saying that Russia must have the same options as the other major nuclear power, the United States. 

Unlike Russia, the US never ratified the treaty. Still, the US, like all other countries except North Korea, has complied with the test ban since the 1990s. 

The treaty itself was adopted in 1996 to curb the further development of nuclear weapons. The CTBT organization in Vienna operates a global network of measuring stations that can detect nuclear tests by means of pressure waves and chemical and nuclear traces. 

Russia wants to continue supplying data from its own 32 stations. Russia will only test nuclear weapons again when and if the US does the same, Moscow said. 

GNA