UN warns that non-ratification of test ban treaty could spark new nuclear arms race

At the United Nations General Assembly’s observance of the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, disarmament chief Izumi Nakamitsu warned that the ongoing refusal of nuclear-weapon states—including the United States, Russia and China—to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty could trigger a fresh arms race. He highlighted last-year threats by the United States and Russia to restart testing and warned that merely contemplating such moves undermines decades of restraint.

The treaty, adopted in 1996, still requires ratification by 44 specific states; nine have not completed the process, with the United States, China, Iran, Egypt and Israel only signing, and India, Pakistan and North Korea neither signing nor ratifying. Russia, once a ratifier, withdrew its endorsement in 2023. Robert Floyd, head of the CTBT organization, announced Tonga’s recent ratification, raising the total parties to 179, and reminded the assembly that over 2,000 nuclear explosions have occurred since 1945.

He cautioned that renewed testing would produce advanced arsenals and increase the chance of miscalculation. Survivors like Tina Cordova shared multigenerational health impacts from historic tests, underscoring the human cost of nuclear experimentation.