Russian President Vladimir Putin has informed high Kremlin officers to draft proposals for the doable resumption of nuclear weapons testing, as Moscow responds to President Donald Trump’s order that the USA “instantly” resume its personal testing after a decades-long hiatus.
The Russian chief informed his Safety Council on Wednesday that ought to the US or any signatory to the Complete Nuclear-Check-Ban Treaty (CTBT) conduct nuclear weapons exams, “Russia can be beneath obligation to take reciprocal measures”, in response to a transcript of the assembly printed by the Kremlin.
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“On this regard, I instruct the Overseas Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the particular providers, and the corresponding civilian companies to do all the pieces doable to collect extra info on this matter, have it analysed by the Safety Council, and submit coordinated proposals on the doable first steps specializing in preparations for nuclear weapons exams,” Putin mentioned.
Moscow has not carried out nuclear weapons exams because the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. However tensions between the 2 nations with the world’s largest nuclear arsenals have spiked in latest weeks as Trump’s frustration with Putin grows over Russia’s failure to finish its warfare in Ukraine.
The US chief cancelled a deliberate summit with Putin in Hungary in October, earlier than imposing sanctions on two main Russian oil companies a day later – the primary such measures since Trump returned to the White Home in January.
Trump then mentioned on October 30 that he had ordered the Division of Protection to “instantly” resume nuclear weapons testing on an “equal foundation” with different nuclear-armed powers.
Trump’s choice got here days after he criticised Moscow for testing its new Burevestnik missile, which is nuclear-powered and designed to hold a nuclear warhead.
In line with the Kremlin transcript, Putin spoke with a number of senior officers in what gave the impression to be a semi-choreographed advisory session.
Defence Minister Andrei Belousov informed Putin that Washington’s latest actions considerably elevate “the extent of navy menace to Russia”, as he mentioned that it was “crucial to take care of our nuclear forces at a stage of readiness enough to inflict unacceptable injury”.
Belousov added that Russia’s Arctic testing web site at Novaya Zemlya might host nuclear exams at quick discover.
Valery Gerasimov, the Chief of the Normal Employees of the Russian Armed Forces, additionally cautioned that if Russia doesn’t “take acceptable measures now, time and alternatives for a well timed response to the actions of the USA will likely be misplaced”.
Following the assembly, state information company TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying that Putin had set no particular deadline for officers to draft the requested proposals.
“With a purpose to come to a conclusion in regards to the advisability of starting preparations for such exams, it’s going to take precisely as a lot time because it takes for us to completely perceive the intentions of the USA of America,” Peskov mentioned.
Russia and the US are by far the most important nuclear powers globally by way of the variety of warheads they possess.
The Heart for Arms Management and Non-Proliferation (CACNP) estimates that Moscow at the moment has 5,459 nuclear warheads, of which 1,600 are actively deployed.
The US has about 5,550 nuclear warheads, in response to the CACNP, with about 3,800 of these energetic. At its peak within the mid-Sixties in the course of the Chilly Struggle, the US stockpile consisted of greater than 31,000 energetic and inactive nuclear warheads.
China at the moment lags far behind, however has quickly expanded its nuclear warhead stockpile to about 600 in recent times, including about 100 per 12 months since 2023, in response to the Stockholm Worldwide Peace Analysis Institute.
France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel and North Korea comprise the remaining nuclear-armed nations.
The US final exploded a nuclear system in 1992, after former Republican President George HW Bush issued a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing following the collapse of the Soviet Union a 12 months earlier.
Since 1996, the 12 months the CTBT was opened for signatures, solely three nations have detonated nuclear gadgets.
India and Pakistan carried out exams in 1998. North Korea has carried out 5 explosive exams since 2006 – most just lately in 2017 – making it the one nation to take action within the twenty first century.
Such blasts, recurrently staged by nuclear powers in the course of the Chilly Struggle, have devastating environmental penalties.
Trump has but to make clear whether or not the resumption he ordered final week refers to nuclear-explosive testing or to flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles, which might see the Nationwide Nuclear Security Administration take a look at supply methods with out requiring explosions.
Safety analysts say a resumption of nuclear-explosive testing by any of the world’s nuclear powers can be destabilising, as it might probably set off an analogous response by the others.
Andrey Baklitskiy, senior researcher on the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Analysis, mentioned that the Kremlin’s response was a main instance of the “action-reaction cycle”, wherein a brand new nuclear arms race might be triggered.
“Nobody wants this, however we would get there regardless,” he posted on X.
Russian MOD Belousov suggests Russia ought to begin to put together for a full-scale nuclear take a look at in response to the US statements. Motion-reaction cycle at its greatest. Nobody wants this, however we would get there regardless
— Andrey Baklitskiy (@baklitskiy) November 5, 2025
