Putin tells officials to submit plans for possibly resuming nuclear tests

Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered officials to submit proposals for a possible resumption of nuclear tests in response to President Donald Trump’s statements last week that appeared to suggest the US will restart its own atomic tests.

Speaking at a meeting with his Security Council, Mr Putin reaffirmed his earlier statement that Moscow will only restart nuclear tests if the US does so first.

But he directed the defence and foreign ministries and other government agencies to analyse Washington’s intentions and work out proposals for resuming nuclear weapons tests.

On October 30, Mr Trump appeared to signal that the US will resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in three decades, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.

But US energy secretary Chris Wright said on Sunday that new tests of the US nuclear weapons system ordered by Mr Trump will not include nuclear explosions.

Mr Trump made the announcement on social media while in South Korea, days after Mr Putin announced successful tests of the prospective nuclear-powered and nuclear capable cruise missile and underwater drone.

Mr Putin’s praise for the new weapons that he claimed cannot be intercepted appears to be another message to Mr Trump that Russia is standing firm in its maximalist demands on settling the conflict in Ukraine.

The US military also has regularly tested nuclear-capable weapons, but it has not detonated atomic weapons since 1992.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which the US signed but did not ratify, has been observed since its adoption by all countries possessing nuclear weapons, North Korea being the only exception.

Mr Putin in 2023 signed a bill revoking Russia’s ratification of a global nuclear test ban, which Moscow said was needed to put it on par with the US. The global test ban was signed by Bill Clinton but never ratified by the US Senate.

During Wednesday’s Security Council meeting, defence minister Andrei Belousov reported to Mr Putin about US efforts to modernise its atomic arsenals, arguing that along with a possible resumption of nuclear tests by Washington they “significantly increase the level of military threats to Russia”.

Mr Belousov suggested that Moscow immediately start preparations for nuclear tests on the Arctic Novaya Zemlya archipelago. He added that the site, where the Soviet Union last tested a nuclear weapon in 1990, was ready for quickly resuming the explosions.