Russia's Ambassador to Washington, Anatoly Antonov, said that the American side is working to slow down the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and continues to strengthen its military nuclear infrastructure.
Commenting on the US State Department's criticism of the Russian position on the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the ambassador added: "This is another periodic appearance of Washington's policy based on the principle - what is possible for the United States, is forbidden to other countries."
He stressed that the United States in particular is the last person entitled to criticize others about the threats facing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and the global nuclear test ban regime.
The Russian ambassador continued to say: “For more than 25 years, Washington has obstructed the entry into force of the treaty by refusing to ratify it. While verbally declaring its commitment to stopping nuclear explosion tests, the US administration continues to maintain the military nuclear infrastructure, including the testing site in Nevada, Ready for work.”
He stressed that Russia ratified the treaty in 2000, and had waited for this from the United States for more than a quarter of a century, but to no avail.
Earlier, the US State Department expressed concern about Russia's plans to withdraw ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Before that, President Vladimir Putin, during his speech at the Valdai Discussion Club meeting, raised the issue of withdrawing ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Later, the Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, said that the presidency of the Council will inevitably discuss at its next meeting the issue of canceling the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Volodin stressed that this is completely in line with the national interests of the Russian Federation, and is considered an identical response to the behavior of the United States, which has not yet ratified the treaty.
Borrell questions continued US funding for Ukraine and warns Europe of a dead end
European Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell announced that recent events in Washington indicate uncertainty about US funding for Ukraine, which increases the European Union's "responsibility" in the future.
“Despite the strong engagement of the Biden administration, this creates uncertainty about the future of US funding for this country,” Borrell said. “In the near future, we will not be able to make up for the lack of US support, and we expect our friends and allies to quickly find ways to get out of this way . ” "Such developments increase the responsibility of the European Union in the future."
He referred to the latest data according to which the European Union and member states have allocated up to 82 billion euros to Ukraine. This includes €25 billion for military spending.
He expressed his hope that European Union countries would be able to agree by the end of this year to change the pan-European budget for the period 2024-2027 and include spending on Ukraine in the amount of 50 billion euros.
Bulgarian President Rumen Radev confirmed earlier that Europe could no longer tolerate the continuation of the conflict in Ukraine, and stressed that sending more weapons to Ukraine would not lead to a settlement of the conflict.