Russia refutes U.S. nuclear accusation

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Russia reiterated its adherence to the moratorium on nuclear tests, refuting the U.S. suggestion that Russia is conducting low-level nuclear tests, said Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's Permanent Representative to International Organizations in Vienna on Wednesday, reported TASS.

The remarks come after the Director of the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Lt. Gen. Robert P. Ashley said earlier that "the United States believes that Russia probably is not adhering to its nuclear testing moratorium in a manner consistent with the 'zero-yield' standard" outlined in the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).

Negotiated in the 1990s, the CTBT enjoys wide global support but must be ratified by eight more nuclear technology states. Russia ratified it in 2000 while the treaty has still not come into force in Israel, Iran, Egypt and the United States.

Members of the United Nations Security Council vote to adopt a resolution on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, U.S., September 23, 2016. /VCG Photo

"We have voluntarily and unilaterally established a moratorium on nuclear tests since the end of the 1980s. We are observing it," Ulyanov said, adding that Ashley's suspicions are not backed by facts and convincing arguments. "Americans promised (to ratify the Treaty) but never did so. The new U.S. administration said they were not even going to do this," Ulyanov was quoted by TASS as saying.

The CTBT monitoring organization supported Russia's claim, confirming that their global detection systems have not detected any tests, according to its head Lassina Zerbo. "We're pretty confident that any militarily significant explosive test would not go undetected. So far we haven't had any signal to that effect and we're looking for further evidence."

Earlier, the head of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee Vladimir Shamanov also responded by saying that "Nuclear tests cannot be carried out secretly. These kinds of statements reveal that the professionalism of the military is systemically falling in America," he added.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(Cover: Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) attends a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia's foreign minister in Moscow on February 2, 2019. /VCG Photo)