Russian President Vladimir Putin has directed his top officials to prepare proposals for potential nuclear weapons tests, marking a possible end to Moscow’s three-decade moratorium on such activities. The directive comes just a week after former U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to resume American nuclear weapons testing.
Putin instructed Russia’s defense and foreign ministries, along with intelligence and civilian agencies, to gather detailed information and present coordinated recommendations to the Security Council. The proposals would outline preparations for potential nuclear tests, which have not been conducted by Russia since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
The move followed suggestions by Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, who urged immediate preparations for testing in the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya. Belousov cited recent U.S. statements and actions as justification for readiness to resume full-scale testing.
Trump’s earlier remarks, in which he ordered the Pentagon to “start testing our nuclear weapons immediately,” appear to have triggered a renewed arms race rhetoric between Washington and Moscow. If carried out, the developments could mark a significant escalation in global nuclear tensions not seen since the Cold War era.