President Trump last week instructed the Pentagon to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992, and Russia is responding in kind. Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed his officials to prepare proposals geared toward possibly doing the same. Speaking at a televised Security Council meeting in Moscow that was supposed to focus on transport security but instead veered into the nuke testing issue, Putin said he'd made clear that if the US or other nations "conduct such tests, Russia would also be required to take appropriate retaliatory measures," per NBC News. The AP reports he made clear that Russia wouldn't act first but would only restart nuclear tests if the US did so.
As such, he directed his foreign and defense departments "to do everything possible to gather additional information on this matter, analyze it in the Security Council, and submit coordinated proposals on the possible commencement of preparations for nuclear weapons testing," per NBC. Several high-ranking Russian officials voiced support for such preparations, with Defense Minister Andrei Belousov calling for them to begin "immediately" and Russia's top general warning that delays could hinder Russia's ability to respond, "since preparation for nuclear tests, depending on their type, takes several months to several years."
Alexander Darchiev, Russia's ambassador to the US, told the council he sought clarification from American officials about Trump's intentions but was given a "no comment" response by both White House and State Department reps. The reps said "they would report the information to their superiors and contact the Russian side if it will be deemed necessary to provide clarification," per Darchiev. Some nuclear scientists and nonproliferation experts had warned Trump's directive might provoke Russia and China. (The US energy secretary filled in some of the blanks on Trump's plan.)
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