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Vladimir Putin\u2019s government is set to rip up a key treaty in a move sure to escalate nuclear tensions with the West.<\/p>\n
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation verifies that nuclear-armed nations are adhering to a ban on testing weapons of mass destruction.<\/p>\n
It has been ratified by Russia but as of yesterday lawmakers in Moscow were given 10 days to find the best way to revoke the treaty.<\/p>\n
In a move that sent tensions soaring, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov claimed earlier that the United States was planning to test nuclear weapons in the Nevada desert.<\/p>\n
He previously said that Russia would only begin testing its nuclear weapons if the US did the same. Vladimir Putin has also discussed restarting nuclear tests which may have led to the move.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: <\/strong> Israel prepping for ‘ground offensive’ and ‘will not stop until Hamas is over’<\/strong><\/p>\n Ryabkov added that Russia\u2019s foreign ministry was drafting a bill which would revoke the treaty.<\/p>\n The news comes amid increasingly hostile nuclear rhetoric from Russian propagandists and politicians as Moscow\u2019s forces bog down in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Last month, former Russian President and close Putin ally Dmitri Medvedev threatened direct conflict with NATO which he predicted would end in nuclear war.<\/p>\n
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