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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov confirmed Saturday the Kremlin is working on proposals for nuclear weapons testing following through on strongman Vladimir Putin’s orders, state media reported.
Putin’s directive came after President Trump’s surprise statement last week suggesting the US would restart atomic tests — for the first time in three decades.
“Regarding President Vladimir Putin’s instruction at the Security Council meeting on November 5, it has been accepted for implementation and is being worked on,” Lavrov told reporters, according to TASS.
“The public will be informed of the results.”
Lavrov said Russia had not received any clarification from the US whether Trump meant testing nuclear weapons carriers or conducting so-called subcritical tests.
“Maybe Donald Trump really talked about Washington’s intention to resume full-scale nuclear tests,” said Lavrov.
Last week, the US leader said he wanted to be on an “equal basis” with Russia and China.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“That process will begin immediately,” he added.
The US has not tested a nuclear explosive since 1992, observing a voluntary moratorium on the practice.
Since then, only North Korea is confirmed to have done nuclear tests, though China is also believed to have conducted secret, low-grade weapons tests in recent years.
English (US)