Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his government and security agencies to prepare proposals for possible nuclear tests – the first since 1990.
Speaking at a meeting of the Security Council in the Kremlin, Putin said the foreign ministry, defense ministry, intelligence services and civilian agencies must collect information, analyze it, and submit plans “on a possible start of work to prepare for nuclear weapons testing.”
The move follows US President Donald Trump’s recent comments that the United States might resume nuclear testing.
Last week, Trump said Washington was planning to conduct “some testing,” without clarifying whether they would include underground explosions like those held during the Cold War – a practice the US halted in 1992.
He reiterated a familiar justification for the move, one that could upend three decades of global non-proliferation norms: “Other countries do it. If they’re going to do it, we’re going to do it. I’m not going to say here.”
However, nuclear policy experts note that Trump’s claim is demonstrably false when referring to explosive nuclear testing.
While Russia continues to test its nuclear-capable delivery systems, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has recently launched missiles that could carry nuclear warheads, North Korea remains the only nation to have conducted an actual nuclear explosive test since the 1990s.
Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service chief Sergey Naryshkin said diplomats had asked Washington to explain the statement, but received no clear response.
“The White House and the State Department avoided giving direct answers and only said they would report the issue to their leadership,” Naryshkin said, citing a report from Russia’s ambassador to the US, Alexander Darchiev.
Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov then proposed beginning preparations for full-scale tests in Russia’s Arctic region of Novaya Zemlya, home to the country’s main nuclear testing site.
“The readiness of forces and equipment on the archipelago allows us to conduct the tests in a short timeframe,” he said.
The Novaya Zemlya site has hosted hundreds of nuclear detonations since the 1950s, with the last one taking place in October 1990. Since then, only subcritical experiments – tests without an actual nuclear explosion – have been conducted.
Putin said Russia continues to comply with the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and has no intention of breaking it. But he warned that Moscow would respond if the United States or other treaty members resumed testing.
“In my 2023 address to the Federal Assembly, I said that if the US or other states conduct such tests, Russia must take adequate and corresponding actions,” Putin said.
The announcement comes weeks after Putin declared that Russia had completed tests of its new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and its torpedo counterpart, the Poseidon.