Inga Yumasheva, Member of the State Duma Committee for International Affairs:
“The Second Symposium” Science and Diplomacy “, organized by the CTBTO PC, is held in Vienna.
Its participants are discussing the prospects of the Treaty and the risks of the resumption of nuclear tests in individual countries. Traditionally, the international community is concerned about the nuclear potential of the DPRK and the tensions in that region. There are no less questions to those states that have not signed or signed, but do not aspire to ratify the Treaty. Russia, as the possessor of nuclear weapons, signed and ratified the Treaty.
During the meeting in March with the Executive Secretary of the Organization for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO), Lassina Zerbo, we talked about the need to involve parliamentarians in working towards the entry into force of the Treaty. I thank Mr. Zerbo for inviting me to take part in the discussion on this topic now with my colleagues from Austria and other countries.
Let me remind you that the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty prohibits “any test explosion of nuclear weapons and any other nuclear explosion” anywhere in the world, regardless of its capacity.
For the treaty to enter into force, its ratification is necessary by the 44 states listed in the annex, but only 36 states, including Russia, Great Britain and France, have ratified the document at the present time. Of the remaining countries, the treaty was not signed by India, the DPRK and Pakistan, but the US, China, Egypt, Israel and Iran signed, but not ratified.
Therefore, the legal status of the treaty is still in limbo.
The main day of the Second Symposium “Science and Diplomacy” organized by the PC by the Organization of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO) was full.
Russia remains extremely concerned about the situation surrounding the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). The US rejection of the line for its ratification and the creation of conditions for the resumption of nuclear testing are causing a serious blow to the Treaty. This line of Washington does not correspond to the declared commitment to strengthening the nuclear non-proliferation regime and calls into question Washington’s negotiability.
The majority of Symposium participants preferred to keep silent about this problem, limiting themselves to on-duty phrases in support of the Treaty.
I asked the former Io. TomuCantrimanu, Fmr. Acting Under Secretary of State, attended the meeting on “Regional Approaches to Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament”:
“Among the parliamentarians participating in this meeting at the invitation of the CTBTO PC, there are no representatives of the US Congress. Who of the American congressmen today is an active supporter of US ratification of the CTBT (if any), and which of the congressmen would you recommend to invite to the similar events the PCs of the OVDJAZI providing for the participation of representatives of the legislature? ”
According to him, there are a number of serious senators in the Congress supporting ratification of the CTBT, but their number is not enough to ensure that the vote gives a positive result in terms of ratifying the US Treaty. Thomas Cantriman does not rule out their participation in CTBTO events, but believes that this is unlikely to affect the position of other US congressmen “