Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on Thursday a law by which he revoked the country's ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Agreement (CTBT).
The move comes after the Russian State Duma unanimously approved a bill to withdraw Moscow's ratification of the agreement signed by Russia in 1996.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said Russia decided on the move in order to "balance with the status with the United States" and claimed that Washington is either preparing or may have already conducted preparations for nuclear tests in Nevada.