The Russian President, Vladimir Putin, raised the possibility of resuming nuclear tests in response to US President Donald Trump’s remarks that Washington would restart nuclear testing programs.
During a meeting with his security council on Wednesday, Putin ordered his senior officials to submit proposals for the possible nuclear test resumption, reported CNN.
“Russia has always strictly adhered and continues to adhere to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), and we have no plans to deviate from these commitments,” Putin said, reiterating his previous statement that Russia will only restart nuclear tests if the US makes the first move.
“I am instructing the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry… the special services and relevant civilian agencies to do everything possible to collect additional information on the issue, analyze it at the Security Council and make agreed proposals on the possible start of work on the preparation of nuclear weapons tests,” the Russian leader added.
Meanwhile, the Kremlin Spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, told CNN that Moscow has not decided on the issue yet. “We are just investigating whether it is necessary to start preparations. We are still bound by our obligations on the overall ban of nuclear tests.”
No country – except North Korea – has carried out nuclear weapons tests since the 1990s. Moreover, both the US and Russia are signatories of the CTBT, which prohibits all nuclear test explosions.
However, Moscow said last week that it had successfully tested an experimental nuclear-powered underwater torpedo called the Poseidon, with an estimated range of more than 9,650 kilometers.
In response, Trump announced that the US would carry out nuclear testing. “Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately,” he wrote on Truth Social.
