Putin ordered preparations to resume nuclear tests after Trump’s move. It responds to increasing tensions in international security relations.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered the heads of the secret service, relevant civilian agencies and the foreign and defense ministers to develop proposals for resuming nuclear weapons tests. He was reacting to the same move by US President Donald Trump last week, TASR writes, according to reports from the TASS, AFP and Reuters agencies.
“I order the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, special services and relevant civilian agencies to do everything possible to obtain more information about this problem, analyze it at the Security Council and make proposals for the possible start of preparatory work for nuclear tests,” the Russian president said.
Russia and CTBT obligations
Putin claims that Russia has always strictly adhered to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT). If the United States or any other nuclear power actually began testing nuclear weapons again, Russia would as well.
Defense Minister Andrey Belousov told the Russian president that as a result of recent statements and actions by the United States, he “recommends immediate preparation for large-scale nuclear tests.” He added that the testing area on the Arctic archipelago Nová zem could serve these purposes in a short time.
The United States conducted its last nuclear test in 1992, China and France in 1996, and the former Soviet Union in 1990. Russia, as the successor to the USSR, has not yet conducted a nuclear test.
On October 30, Trump announced that he had ordered the Department of Defense to begin testing nuclear weapons immediately because other countries were doing so.
