Russia reverses course on nuclear test ban, raising global concern

Russia has reportedly begun the process of withdrawing from ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

State Duma, the country’s lower house of the Federal Assembly, voted on Tuesday to revoke Moscow’s ratification of the global treaty that prohibits nuclear tests, according to some US media reports.

This has left international advocates for arms control concerned, even though Russian authorities claim to remain committed to the treaty’s goals.

“We are not yet in a terrible place, but we are in a bad place,” Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at the UN Institute for…