After Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin orders Russia to prepare for nuclear weapons tests

Speaking at a meeting with his Security Council, Putin reaffirmed his earlier statement that Moscow will only restart nuclear tests if the US does so first.

Russia vs US nuclear arms stockpile

Russia has the most confirmed nuclear weapons, with over 5,500 nuclear warheads. The United States follows behind with 5,044 nuclear weapons. The last time Russia carried out a nuclear test was back on October 24, 1990, before the fall of the Soviet Union.

‘no specific deadline’

On Wednesday, Russian state news agency TASS quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying Putin had set no specific deadline for officials to draft the requested proposals.

“In order to come to a conclusion about the advisability of beginning preparations for such tests, it will take exactly as much time as it takes for us to fully understand the intentions of the United States of America,” Peskov said.

Apart from Russia and the US, the other countries that are confirmed to possess nuclear weapons are China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, and North Korea, while the status of Israel remains ambiguous.

What Trump said about resuming nuclear tests

Putin’s order to prepare his country to resume nuclear weapons testing comes at a time when Russia-US relations have deteriorated sharply in the past few weeks over the war in Ukraine.

Last week, Trump ordered the US to resume nuclear testing, claiming that other countries are also doing the same. The US President has not clarified whether the resumption he ordered referred to nuclear-explosive testing or to flight testing of nuclear-capable missiles.

Last month, Russia tested its new Burevestnik cruise missile, which is nuclear-powered and designed to carry a nuclear warhead. It also held nuclear launch drills and tested a nuclear-powered Poseidon super-torpedo.