MOSCOW (AP) 鈥 Russian lawmakers will consider revoking the ratification of a global nuclear test ban, the parliament speaker said Friday.
The statement from Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of the lower house, the State Duma, followed that Moscow could consider rescinding the ratification of the international pact banning nuclear tests since the United States has never ratified it.
There are widespread concerns that Russia could move to resume nuclear tests to try to discourage the West from continuing to offer military support to Ukraine. Many Russian hawks have spoken in favor of resuming the tests.
Volodin reaffirmed Moscow鈥檚 claim that Western military support for Ukraine means the U.S. and its allies are engaged in the conflict.
鈥淲ashington and Brussels have unleashed a war against our country,鈥 Volodin said. 鈥淭oday鈥檚 challenges require new decisions.鈥
He said that senior lawmakers will discuss recalling the 2000 ratification of the nuclear test ban at the next meeting of the agenda-setting house council.
鈥淚t conforms with our national interests,鈥 Volodin said. 鈥淎nd it will come as a quid pro quo response to the United States, which has still failed to ratify the treaty.鈥
Speaking Thursday at a forum with foreign affairs experts, Putin noted the United States has signed but not ratified the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, known as the CTBT, while Russia has signed and ratified it. He argued that Russia could act in kind.
鈥淭heoretically, we may revoke the ratification.鈥 he said. 鈥淚t's up to the State Duma members.鈥
Putin said that while some experts have talked about the need to conduct nuclear tests, he hasn鈥檛 yet formed an opinion on the issue.
鈥淚鈥檓 not ready to say yet whether it鈥檚 necessary for us to conduct tests or not,鈥 he said.
Asked Friday if rescinding the ban could pave the way for the resumption of tests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that 鈥渋t doesn't mean a statement about the intention to resume nuclear tests.鈥
He noted that a possible move to revoke Russia's ratification of the ban would "bring the situation to a common denominator鈥 with the U.S.
In the wake of these statements, U.N. Secretary-General Ant贸nio Guterres urged 鈥渁ll nuclear weapon states to publicly reaffirm their moratoriums against nuclear testing and their commitment to the CTBT,鈥 U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said Friday.
Robert Floyd, head of the U.N. nuclear test ban treaty organization, said in a statement Friday that 鈥渋t would be concerning and deeply unfortunate if any State Signatory were to reconsider its ratification of the CTBT.鈥
Russia鈥檚 defense doctrine envisages a nuclear response to an atomic strike or even to an attack with conventional weapons that 鈥渢hreatens the very existence of the Russian state.鈥 That vague wording has led some Russian hawks to urge the Kremlin to sharpen it, in order to force the West to take the warnings more seriously.
Responding to a question from an expert who suggested rewriting the nuclear doctrine to lower the threshold of nuclear weapons use to force the West to stop backing Ukraine, Putin said he sees no need to change the document.
鈥淭here is no situation in which anything would threaten Russian statehood and the existence of the Russian state,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 think that no person of sober mind and clear memory could have an idea to use nuclear weapons against Russia.鈥
Putin also announced Thursday that Russia has effectively completed the development of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile and the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile and will work on putting them into production.
Putin didn't elaborate on his statement, and Peskov refused to say when the test of the Burevestnik was conducted or offer any other details.
Little is known about the Burevestnik, which could carry a nuclear or a conventional warhead and potentially stay aloft for a much longer time and cover a longer distance than other missiles thanks to nuclear propulsion.
When Putin first revealed that Russia was working on the weapon in 2018, he claimed it would have an unlimited range, allowing it to circle the globe undetected by missile defense systems. Many Western experts have been skeptical about that, noting that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable.
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Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer in the United Nations and Stephanie Liechtenstein in Vienna contributed to this report.
