…says US has no right to assess the implementation of arms control agreements

By Victoria Ojeme

The Russian Foreign Ministry says Moscow remains committed to the ban on nuclear tests and continues to implement the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.

The ministry said that “the US placed the treaty on the verge of total collapse by renouncing its ratification.”

Russia accused the US of the “distortion of facts and open falsifications in the annual report of the US Department of State to Congress, Adherence to and Compliance with Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments (ACNPD).”

“As in many previous years, Washington is trying to create an impression of responsibility regarding its compliance with the related treaties and agreements. But it is common knowledge that the US administration has actually entered a path of dismantling the international legal framework of the ACNPD, a policy that is undermining global security,” the statement said.

The Foreign Ministry pointed out that “the US allegations that Russia allegedly violated the nuclear testing moratorium by conducting nuclear experiments inconsistent with the US ‘zero-yield’ standard are not expectedly substantiated by evidence.”

“Along with this, Americans admit that they know neither about the number of those experiments in 2019 nor about whether they were conducted or not. We underline that in accordance with its international commitments, Russia should not follow any ‘US standards’ in the nuclear testing field,” the ministry added.

“We officially confirm that Russia remains strictly committed to the nuclear testing moratorium and continues to implement the provisions of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty with regards to the nuclear testing ban, in spite of the fact that the treaty has not come into force,” the ministry stressed.

“Unlike the United States, we ratified it 20 years ago and have been implementing with success. Along with this, we proceed from the assumption that any disagreements on criteria for compliance with relevant commitments can and should be settled within the framework of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty after it comes into force,” the statement says.

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“As long as the United States has not ratified this treaty, we think it counterproductive to discuss with that country’s representatives the issue of compliance with that nuclear testing ban,” it emphasizes.

The Foreign Ministry pointed out that “the insinuations seem to have been brought up so as to distract attention from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.” The ministry noted that “the US placed the treaty on the verge of total collapse by renouncing its ratification.”

“Washington appears to be preparing the world that the voluntary nuclear testing moratorium, which is still in effect in the US, will be abandoned and, as a consequence, the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty will be totally dismantled,” the Foreign Ministry said.

Apart from that, the Russian Foreign Ministry emphasized that “on absolutely false ‘messages’ are based the allegations about Russia’s alleged non-compliance with the Treaty on the Limitation of Underground Nuclear Weapon Tests (known as the Threshold Test Ban Treaty) signed by the Soviet Union and the United States in 1974. Under the treaty, the sides should inform each other about the nuclear tests.”

Russia noted that instead of providing an objective analysis of US compliance with ACNPD agreements, the report, just like all the preceding reports, is focused on other countries.

“The US administration is applying its traditional tactics of shifting the burden of responsibility onto others in order to divert the attention of the international public from US actions to dismantle the system of ACNPD treaties and agreements which developed over decades. As usual, Washington does not provide any proof of its allegations.”

“When commenting on the US State Department’s reports on the ACNPD, we pointed out several times that our American colleagues have no right to assess the implementation of arms control agreements by other countries. All international agreements in this sphere include detailed and coordinated verification and control mechanisms to assess and ensure signatories’ compliance with their commitments. In some cases special international organisations have been created for this purpose.”

“Washington’s aspiration to take over the power to judge does not have an international legal leg to stand on and cannot be used to draw conclusions, let alone bringing charges against the activities of sovereign states, which have the same rights in international organisations as the United States,” Russia said.

Vanguard