In reaction to US President Donald Trump’s statement last week that seemed to imply the United States will resume its own atomic tests, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials on Wednesday to submit suggestions for a potential resumption of nuclear tests.
Putin reiterated his prior claim that Moscow will only resume nuclear testing if the US does so first during a meeting with his Security Council. However, he instructed the foreign and defense ministries, along with other government departments, to assess Washington’s plans and develop plans to resume nuclear weapons testing.
Trump seemed to hint on Oct. 30 that the US will start nuclear weapons testing again for the first time in 30 years, stating that it would be on an “equal basis” with China and Russia.
However, Chris Wright, the US energy secretary, said on Sunday that Trump’s new nuclear weapons system testing will not involve nuclear explosions.
Days after Putin announced successful tests of the potential nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable cruise missile and underwater drone, Trump made the announcement on Truth Social while in South Korea. Putin seems to be sending the US president another message that Russia is sticking to its maximalist demands for resolving the Ukraine war by praising the new weaponry, which he said cannot be intercepted.
Although it hasn’t detonated an atomic weapon since 1992, the US military has routinely tested nuclear-capable weapons. Excepting North Korea, all nations with nuclear weapons have abided by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which the US signed but did not ratify.
For Russia up to be on par with the US, Putin signed a bill in 2023 that revoked the country’s acceptance of a global nuclear test ban. President Bill Clinton signed the global test ban, but the US Senate never approved it.
Defense Minister Andrey Belousov informed Putin of US attempts to update its atomic arsenals during Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, claiming that they “significantly increase the level of military threats to Russia” in conjunction with Washington’s potential to resume nuclear testing.
Belousov recommended that Moscow begin nuclear test preparations in the Arctic Novaya Zemlya archipelago right away. The location, where the Soviet Union last tested a nuclear weapon in 1990, was prepared to swiftly resume the explosions, he continued.
The chief of the military’s General Staff, Gen. Valery Gerasimov, also attested to the need to begin test preparations as soon as possible.
“If we don’t take appropriate measures now, we will miss the time and opportunity to respond promptly to the U.S. actions, as it takes from several months to several years to prepare for nuclear tests, depending on their type,” he said.
Putin instructed government agencies to “gather additional information on the issue, analyse it within the framework of the Security Council and submit coordinated proposals on the possible start of work on preparations for nuclear weapons tests” after hearing from military leaders and other senior officials who pointed out the contradictory signals from Washington regarding whether the US will resume nuclear explosions.
Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for the Kremlin, stressed that Putin only instructed officials to determine if it is essential to start nuclear test preparations at this time. Putin stated that before making any decisions, Moscow must thoroughly comprehend US intensions, TASS reported.
Subsequently, Putin’s deputy head of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev said that the Russians must take Trump’s remarks seriously.
“No one knows what Trump meant about ‘nuclear testing’ (he probably doesn’t himself). But he’s the president of the United States. And the consequences of such words are inescapable: Russia will be forced to assess the expediency of conducting full-fledged nuclear tests itself,” Medvedev wrote.