🇷🇺 Right of reply by the Delegation of the Russian Federation at the 70th Session of the Working Group on Administrative and Financial Issues of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization 📍Vienna, October 19, 2026 ❗️ In light of the allegations against Russia and China made in the United States’ statement, we wish to emphasize that it is unacceptable to level unfounded accusations against States of conducting nuclear tests on the basis of unreliable information derived from the CTBT International Monitoring System that is knowingly misinterpreted. Such allegations undermine the credibility of the entire Organization and its mandate, which is predicated on the collection and analysis of reliable technical data. We recall that the CTBT is universal and non-discriminatory in nature, rather than selective or directed against particular States or facilities. This means that the monitoring system does not “target” individual countries, but operates on an equal basis for all, thereby helping to minimize the scope for data manipulation and reduce mistrust. Pending the entry into force of the Treaty, we call on the United States not to undermine it, but rather to focus its efforts on bringing it into force. The full implementation of the CTBT will make it possible to dispel any doubts or suspicions. The provocative statements made by the US President on 30 October 2025, followed by increasingly aggressive rhetoric from US officials, unsupported by any coherent rationale, regarding the immediate beginning of preparations for conducting nuclear tests “on an equal basis" with other countries, are a growing source of concern. We have observed this rhetoric across a range of international forums, including the First Committee of the UN General Assembly just one week ago. We have taken particular note of the public criticism voiced by the US delegation in the context of the First Committee’s work, directed at the CTBT verification regime itself. In this regard, we wish to point out that the US delegation played an active role in the development of this regime and agreed to the text of the Treaty. The United States’ signature of the CTBT on 24 September 1996 stands as evidence of this. Washington had raised no concerns in this regard until now. ❗️ We are also compelled to remind certain delegations that the purported objective of the “denuclearization of the DPRK” is not on the agenda, particularly not within the framework of the CTBTO Preparatory Commission. It is abundantly clear who bears responsibility for the current situation, who is escalating tensions in the nuclear domain and raising the stakes on the Korean Peninsula by conducting a series of large-scale military exercises that rehearse various offensive scenarios, including those involving a nuclear component. US President Donald Trump himself said that the joint military exercises with Seoul "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile". We can only hope that these stated positions will be translated into practical steps to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula.