Russia may be preparing to resume its nuclear weapons testing in response to the United States conducting similar tests, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, reacting to comments made by U.S. President Donald Trump regarding testing.
Last week, Trump stated on social media that he had directed the Pentagon to “begin testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis” with both Russia and China, although it was unclear whether he meant tests involving nuclear warheads specifically.
“Instruct the Foreign Ministry, the Defense Ministry, intelligence agencies, and relevant civilian entities to collect further information, analyze it within the Security Council, and formulate coordinated suggestions for potential preparations for nuclear weapons testing,” Putin stated on Wednesday.
Since 1990, the year preceding the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia has not officially conducted any nuclear tests.
The two largest nuclear powers in the world signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996, a pivotal agreement aimed at completely prohibiting nuclear testing.
While Moscow ratified the CTBT in 2000, Washington never finalized the law to ratify it, and in 2023, Putin revoked Russia’s ratification.
“Russia has consistently upheld its commitments under the CTBT, and we have no intention of deviating from them,” Putin assured high-ranking security and defense officials on Wednesday.
“However, should the United States or any other signatories of the treaty proceed with such tests, Russia would also need to take appropriate measures,” Putin cautioned.
Defense Minister Andrei Belousov expressed the need for immediate readiness at the Novaya Zemlya Arctic test site, citing U.S. modernization of weapons and recent remarks from senior U.S. officials.
“It would be prudent to commence preparations for full-scale nuclear tests without delay,” he advised Putin. “The Novaya Zemlya site is ready for quick execution of these tests.”
The Kremlin later downplayed Putin’s assertions, indicating that he did not command the initiation of nuclear test preparations.
Putin simply “requested an assessment of the feasibility of starting preparations for such tests, which is what will be explored now,” spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified.
“The meaning behind Trump’s reference to ‘nuclear testing’ is ambiguous (he may not even be clear about it). Nonetheless, as the president of the United States, the repercussions of such statements are unavoidable: Russia will need to evaluate the necessity of undertaking full-scale nuclear tests itself,” former President and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev commented on social media.
In October, Putin oversaw two standard tests of weapons capable of nuclear delivery that did not involve nuclear warheads.
Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has been attempting to mediate the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, although these negotiations have not led to significant outcomes. He has expressed increasing irritation toward Putin, who has dismissed several appeals for a ceasefire.
Apart from North Korea, no nation has conducted a nuclear weapon test involving an atomic explosion in the 21st century.
Reporting by AFP contributed to this article.
