Russian Federation Council Vice Speaker Sen. Konstantin Kosachev believes that the point of actions by the U.S. and their NATO allies to undermine the system of arms control agreements, was to remove the restrictions that prevented them from achieving unilateral military advantages. “They have been acting impudently and self-confidently in recent years, under the illusion that they would not receive a response. And now there is a convincing Russian response under the names of Oreshnik, Burevestnik and Poseidon. Moreover, while Russia complies with its obligations, including under agreements that are no longer in force,” Kosachev wrote on his Telegram channel reported TASS.
“The decision of the American president to resume nuclear tests does not fit within the obligations of the United States,” Koaschev said. “The Americans never withdrew their signature from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) signed in 1996. And even without ratifying the treaty, they are ‘obliged to refrain from actions that would deprive the treaty of its object and purpose,’ as stated in the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (article 18). At the same time, the United States introduced a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing back in 1992, following the U.S.S.R. in 1990, which is still in effect.”
