Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed off on a law revoking Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a move he says is designed to bring Moscow into line with the United States.

Russia's parliament has passed the last stage of a law to withdraw Moscow's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which now goes to President Vladimir Putin for signing

Russia is revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty because the irresponsible attitude of the United States to global security, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament said on Tuesday.

China may have secretly set off low-level underground nuclear test explosions despite claiming to observe an international pact banning such blasts, the US State Department said in a report on Wednesday that could fuel US-Chinese tensions.

Russia said on Friday it was alarmed after the United States tested a ground-launched ballistic missile that would have been banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the RIA news agency reported.

The United States tested a medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday, the second test in four months of an offensive missile that would have been banned by a US-Russia arms treaty that Washington exited in August.

The United States, which plans to exit a major arms control agreement later this week, denied a Russian accusation on Tuesday that it was also planning to quit the international treaty that bans the testing of nuclear weapons.

Thirty-four years of nuclear apartheid may have ended with India signing the 2008 Indo-US Civilian Nuclear deal but one critical goal still eludes the country - membership to the elite club that controls global nuclear commerce called the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Russia rebuffed as a baseless smear on Thursday a US allegation that Moscow may be conducting low-level nuclear tests in violation of a moratorium.

The United States believes Russia may be conducting low-level nuclear tests, a US intelligence official on Wednesday, while the head of a body monitoring a global nuclear treaty said there was no sign of such violations by Moscow.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) has invited India to become an "Observer" with access to International Monitoring System data, so it can take an informed decision on ratifying a much-debated nuclear disarmament treaty.

UN chief Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal to eight nations, including India and the US, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, saying the failure to bring it into force undermines global efforts to ensure a world free of atomic weapons.

The United States of America today said that while it welcomed talks between nuclear powers India and Pakistan, both countries must sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or CTBT soon.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel supports a treaty to ban nuclear testing but signalled his country was not yet ready to ratify a UN pact adopted by the UN nearly 20 years ago.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called today for the US, China and other nuclear-armed states to end the "madness" of atomic testing by finally ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which turns 20 this year.

President Vladimir Putin on Thursday signed off on a law revoking Russia's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, a move he says is designed to bring Moscow into line with the United States.

Russia's parliament has passed the last stage of a law to withdraw Moscow's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which now goes to President Vladimir Putin for signing

Russia is revoking ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty because the irresponsible attitude of the United States to global security, the speaker of the lower house of the Russian parliament said on Tuesday.

China may have secretly set off low-level underground nuclear test explosions despite claiming to observe an international pact banning such blasts, the US State Department said in a report on Wednesday that could fuel US-Chinese tensions.

Russia said on Friday it was alarmed after the United States tested a ground-launched ballistic missile that would have been banned under the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty, the RIA news agency reported.

The United States tested a medium-range ballistic missile on Thursday, the second test in four months of an offensive missile that would have been banned by a US-Russia arms treaty that Washington exited in August.

The United States, which plans to exit a major arms control agreement later this week, denied a Russian accusation on Tuesday that it was also planning to quit the international treaty that bans the testing of nuclear weapons.

Thirty-four years of nuclear apartheid may have ended with India signing the 2008 Indo-US Civilian Nuclear deal but one critical goal still eludes the country - membership to the elite club that controls global nuclear commerce called the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Russia rebuffed as a baseless smear on Thursday a US allegation that Moscow may be conducting low-level nuclear tests in violation of a moratorium.

The United States believes Russia may be conducting low-level nuclear tests, a US intelligence official on Wednesday, while the head of a body monitoring a global nuclear treaty said there was no sign of such violations by Moscow.

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO) has invited India to become an "Observer" with access to International Monitoring System data, so it can take an informed decision on ratifying a much-debated nuclear disarmament treaty.

UN chief Antonio Guterres reiterated his appeal to eight nations, including India and the US, to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, saying the failure to bring it into force undermines global efforts to ensure a world free of atomic weapons.

The United States of America today said that while it welcomed talks between nuclear powers India and Pakistan, both countries must sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty or CTBT soon.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel supports a treaty to ban nuclear testing but signalled his country was not yet ready to ratify a UN pact adopted by the UN nearly 20 years ago.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon called today for the US, China and other nuclear-armed states to end the "madness" of atomic testing by finally ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which turns 20 this year.