Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated on the 22nd (local time) that if the United States ratifies the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), Russia will also re-ratify the treaty.
In a video speech at the Moscow Non-Proliferation Conference that day, Minister Lavrov said, "We are willing to return to the issue of treaty ratification if the United States does so." The CTBT is a treaty that bans all nuclear tests, and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill to withdraw ratification last November in response to the United States not ratifying the CTBT.
Minister Lavrov reminded, "Russia's withdrawal of CTBT ratification was a justified response to the destructive actions of the United States and the West," adding, "We remain a full party to the CTBT."
Minister Lavrov also claimed that nuclear-armed Western countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom are increasing nuclear risks by supporting Ukraine. He stated, "The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) are obsessed with delivering a strategic defeat to Russia, and this confrontation could raise the level of nuclear risk," adding, "The West is dangerously wavering on the brink of a direct military conflict between nuclear-armed states, which could lead to catastrophic consequences."
Meanwhile, on the occasion of the Moscow Non-Proliferation Conference, the Russian Foreign Ministry mentioned that Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov met with CTBTO Executive Secretary Robert Floyd. They conveyed that the maintenance of the nuclear test moratorium, introduced by a presidential decree in 1992, depends entirely on the actions of the United States.
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