Russia’s lower house of parliament has taken the first step towards approving a bill that will revoke the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).
412 deputies voted with no abstentions after 440 members of the Duma signalled their support for the deratification bill last week. North Korea is the only country in the last century to have conducted a nuclear test involving an explosion.
Earlier this month President Vladimir Putin suggested that Russia revoke the 1996 treaty because the US had not ratified it and said he was not ready to confirm Moscow’s stance on resuming nuclear testing.
Our journalists are working on this story and will update it as soon as more information becomes available.
