MOSCOW, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday denied U.S. accusations that Russia was violating the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by conducting nuclear tests.
"All these accusations are completely groundless. They cannot be regarded as anything other than an attempt to justify Washington's preparations to withdraw from the CTBT and to resume full-scale nuclear tests," the ministry said in a statement.
Last week, the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency published a statement, saying that "Russia has conducted nuclear weapons tests that have created nuclear yield."
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that the United States is "copying almost step-by-step the actions it took to pull out of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty."
The ministry said it now expects a U.S. statement that Washington considers it impossible to remain committed to the CTBT "when others flout their obligations."
Russia has repeatedly said that it strictly adheres to the multilateral CTBT and has stopped nuclear testing since 1991 in compliance with the pact.
