MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/: Russia has been and still is in favor of creating a genuine system of international security based on fair principles, but if the United States takes no steps to fulfill its obligations, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) will remain window dressing, and there is no point in Russia's participation in this toothless travesty, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.
"Russia has advocated and stands for the creation of a real system of effective international security, unified, indivisible for all, and on new, fair principles. By ratifying the treaty in due time, we naturally showed our goodwill. We indicated our wish to contribute to global security. Naturally, we hoped to see responsible actions first of all on the part of the United States, but Washington for so many years - 23 years have now elapsed - has not ratified the treaty and has persistently treated common concerns with indifference," Matviyenko said when discussing the law on revoking Russia’s ratification of the CTBT.
At the same time, Matviyenko noted that Russia's desire to quit the agreement "has suddenly made the United States very concerned."
"It’s sheer hypocrisy. If the US keeps doing nothing in terms of fulfilling its obligations, this agreement will remain pure window dressing, and it would make no sense for Russia to participate in this travesty," she added.
Matviyenko stressed that recently the West has been systematically despoiling international law step by step, trying to replace it with the ‘rule of might-makes-right,’ while the rest of the world is given the option of meekly putting up with US misbehavior.
"We need to eliminate inequality, in this case within the framework of a single document, to rebalance the system, to eliminate distortions and to restore justice. I think that if the West, including the United States, is seriously interested in international stability, they will heed this message and take the necessary actions," Matviyenko concluded.
CTBT ratification revoked
Russia’s Federation Council, or upper house of parliament, at a plenary session on Wednesday unanimously approved a bill calling for Russia's revocation of its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), with all 156 senators voting "aye" to approve the move. The document cancels Article 1 of the federal law "On the Ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty," which contains a provision on its ratification. It also changes the title of the federal law by removing the word "ratification" from it.
The CTBT was signed on behalf of Russia in New York on September 24, 1996, and formally ratified by Russia on May 27, 2000. This multilateral document was supposed to have become the main international legal instrument for ending all types of nuclear testing. To date, however, the treaty has not entered into force because it has not been ratified by eight of the 44 countries that have nuclear weapons or the potential to develop them, including the United States.
