Russia's parliament is expected to vote this week to withdraw Moscow's ratification of the global treaty that bans nuclear tests, a move called “extremely troubling” by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).
Below is a statement by Dr. Tara Drozdenko, the director of the Global Security Program at UCS.
“Withdrawing from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty further erodes the arms control ecosystem and the norm against nuclear testing. It’s imperative that we ratchet down nuclear saber rattling and that includes even the suggestion that testing is being considered by any country.
“Meanwhile, while ‘mirroring’ the US position, as Putin claims, is not an excuse for pulling out of the treaty, in all honesty, the U.S. Senate should have ratified it decades ago.”
For more information on the future of nuclear testing, please see a blogpost by Dr. Dylan Spaulding, a senior scientist in UCS’ Global Security Program.