Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered officials to prepare proposals for a possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing in response to comments from President Donald Trump suggesting the U.S. could restart its own atomic tests.
According to The Associated Press, at a meeting with his Security Council, Putin repeated that Moscow would only resume testing if Washington does so first. He directed the defense and foreign ministries and other government agencies to assess U.S. intentions and develop recommendations.
On Oct. 30, Trump appeared to indicate that the U.S. would resume nuclear testing for the first time in more than 30 years, saying it would be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.
However, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright later said that new tests ordered by Trump would not involve nuclear explosions.
Trump made his remarks on social media while in South Korea, days after Putin announced successful tests of a nuclear-powered cruise missile and underwater drone. Putin’s comments were widely seen as a signal of Russia’s resolve amid tensions over Ukraine.
The U.S. military continues to test nuclear-capable weapons but has not conducted a nuclear detonation since 1992. Both Washington and Moscow have observed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, though neither has formally ratified it.
Putin last year signed a bill revoking Russia’s ratification of the treaty, saying the move was needed to keep pace with the U.S.
At Wednesday’s meeting, Defense Minister Andrei Belousov warned that U.S. efforts to modernize its nuclear arsenal, coupled with talk of renewed testing, “significantly increase the level of military threats to Russia.”
Belousov recommended that Moscow begin preparations for tests on the Arctic Novaya Zemlya archipelago, where the Soviet Union last detonated a nuclear weapon in 1990. Gen. Valery Gerasimov, chief of the General Staff, also supported quick preparations.
“If we don’t take appropriate measures now, we will miss the time and opportunity to respond promptly to the U.S. actions,” Gerasimov said.
Putin ordered his government to gather more information and submit “coordinated proposals on the possible start of work on preparations for nuclear weapons tests.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov later stressed that Putin had not ordered an immediate start to testing preparations but only an analysis of the situation.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy head of the Security Council, said Trump’s remarks could not be ignored.
“No one knows what Trump meant about ‘nuclear testing’ (he probably doesn’t himself),” Medvedev wrote on X. “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.”
