This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/02/world/europe/russia-nuclear-test-ban-treaty.html
The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| Russia Pulled Out of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Here’s What That Means. | Russia Pulled Out of a Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. Here’s What That Means. |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| In a landmark moment marking the closing chapters of the Cold War, Presidents Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union concluded a 1985 summit in Geneva by issuing a joint statement declaring that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” | In a landmark moment marking the closing chapters of the Cold War, Presidents Ronald Reagan of the United States and Mikhail S. Gorbachev of the Soviet Union concluded a 1985 summit in Geneva by issuing a joint statement declaring that “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought.” |
| That commitment paved the way for a series of historic agreements to reduce the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States, which together hold the vast majority of the world’s most destructive weapons, and to limit their spread globally. | That commitment paved the way for a series of historic agreements to reduce the nuclear arsenals of Russia and the United States, which together hold the vast majority of the world’s most destructive weapons, and to limit their spread globally. |
| Amid far more confrontational relations between Moscow and Washington, that architecture of disarmament and nonproliferation is now gradually being dismantled. On Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin signed a law revoking Russia’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear testing. | Amid far more confrontational relations between Moscow and Washington, that architecture of disarmament and nonproliferation is now gradually being dismantled. On Thursday, President Vladimir V. Putin signed a law revoking Russia’s ratification of the global treaty banning nuclear testing. |
| In pushing through the de-ratification, Mr. Putin said that he wanted to “mirror” the American position. Although the United States signed the treaty in 1996, it has never been ratified. | In pushing through the de-ratification, Mr. Putin said that he wanted to “mirror” the American position. Although the United States signed the treaty in 1996, it has never been ratified. |
| Since the United States has never ratified the treaty, Russia’s move was more symbolic than practical. But it leaves only one significant nuclear weapons pact between Russia and the United States in place: the New START treaty. | |
| The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, or CTBT, was an attempt under the umbrella of the United Nations to ban all nuclear tests. Adopted in 1996, it never came into effect because not enough key countries, including the United States, have ratified it. In Washington, efforts to ratify it have broken down repeatedly, largely along partisan lines, with Republican administrations arguing that despite a U.S. moratorium on new tests, future improvements or modifications in the nuclear arsenal might require them. |