The Russian president’s order comes in response to Trump’s announcement of US intentions to resume these tests
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered top government officials to submit proposals for potential nuclear weapons tests after US President Donald Trump announced last week that Washington would restart these tests.
“I am ordering the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, the special services, and relevant civilian agencies to do everything possible to gather additional information on this matter, conduct analyses at the Security Council level, and submit coordinated proposals on the possible commencement of preparations for nuclear weapons tests,” he said.
He also stressed that “Russia has always strictly adhered to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT)” and that “there are no plans to deviate from these obligations,” although he recalled that he had already stated in 2023 that “if the United States or other States Parties to this treaty conduct these tests, Russia will have to take appropriate measures in response.”
Putin further stated that Trump’s declarations constitute “a serious matter,” while Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov maintained that “we must not focus solely and primarily on the statements of American politicians, but on the actions of the United States.” “These actions clearly demonstrate Washington’s active upgrade of its strategic offensive weapons,” he said.
Belousov emphasized that the United States “has withdrawn” in recent years from several international arms control agreements and warned that “the United States’ abandonment of the moratorium on nuclear testing could “This is a logical step by Washington to undermine global strategic stability.”
“This is a unified series of measures, including possible plans to conduct nuclear tests, that significantly increases the level of military danger to Russia,” he warned, before emphasizing that Moscow “must keep its nuclear potential ready to inflict unacceptable damage on the enemy under any condition and circumstance.”
The Russian Defense Minister stressed the need to “act appropriately in response to Washington’s steps to guarantee the country’s security.” “I believe it is advisable to immediately begin preparations to conduct nuclear tests,” he concluded, according to the transcript provided by the Kremlin after the meeting between Putin and senior government and military officials.
Along these lines, the head of the Russian Army, Valery Gerasimov, emphasized that “the fact that the United States has not given an official explanation regarding Trump’s words about resuming nuclear tests provides no reason to believe that the United States will not begin preparations for, and subsequently conduct, nuclear tests in the near future.”
“The United States may “We continue to avoid giving official explanations, but that changes nothing. If we don’t take the appropriate measures now, we will lose the moment and the opportunity for an adequate response to the actions of the United States, given that the time needed to prepare nuclear tests, depending on their type, varies between several months and several years,” he added.
Just hours earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had stated that Moscow is awaiting “clarification” from the Trump Administration regarding the recently announced nuclear tests, which, according to US Energy Secretary Chris Wright, will not include “explosions.”
To justify this measure, Trump has repeatedly cited Russia’s recent weapons tests, which included the launch of the Burevestnik missile and the Poseidon nuclear-powered super torpedo, although the Kremlin pointed out that these do not constitute nuclear tests because they do not carry nuclear warheads or involve explosions of this type.
A report presented in August by the Congressional Research Service of the United States found that the country China could conduct nuclear weapons tests within 24 to 36 months of receiving the order from the president, according to CNN. Neither the United States, Russia, nor China has conducted nuclear tests since 1996, when Beijing first did so. Moscow conducted its first test in 1990, and the United States in 1992.
