MOSCOW. April 30 (Interfax) - Moscow is not going to join the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT), believing it to be flawed, the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department said.
"We believe it would be wrong to join an essentially flawed treaty," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, commenting on the international reaction to U.S. President Donald Trump's decision to refuse ratifying the ATT.
The prospects of the universalization of the treaty in light of the decision of the United States are becoming "even dimmer," and participation in the ATT without Russia, the U.S., India, and China "is turning into a formality," the statement said.
"Apparently, Washington is not going to pretend anymore that it stands in solidarity with its European partners, which has led to this decision by the U.S. administration," it said.
"All of the ATT's flaws are well known," the statement said. "They are the absence of bans on handing arms over to non-state actors, which have not been authorized by the government of a specific state, and on manufacturing arms without a license or on an expired license from a country holding rights. As a result, there are the same risks as before: that weapons could fall into the hands of criminals and terrorists and, consequently, a threat of further destabilization of the situation in various 'hotspots of tension', remain," the statement said.
The practice itself of the usage of this treaty raises serious questions, it said.
"Certain of its participants are continuing, even despite their obligations as part of the ATT, to supply military goods to zones of internal armed conflict, either directly or indirectly. Additionally, the decision-making procedure as part of the Treaty, not on the basis of consensus but by two thirds of votes, does not rule out the imposition of the will of a certain group of states on other members in the future," the statement said.