Putin orders proposals for possible nuclear weapons tests after Trump's nuke remarks
The move assumes significance as Moscow has not tested nuclear weapons since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
A week after Donald Trump directed Pentagon to begin testing the US's nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his top officials to draft proposals for a possible test of nuclear weapons, Reuters reported.
The move also assumes significance as Moscow has not tested nuclear weapons since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.
According to AFP, Putin ordered Russia's defence and foreign ministries, as well as security services, to "gather information on this topic" and make "proposals on the possible start of preparation works for nuclear weapons tests".
"I am instructing the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry... the special services and relevant civilian agencies to do everything possible to collect additional information on the issue, analyse it at the Security Council and make agreed proposals on the possible start of work on the preparation of nuclear weapons tests," Putin said, according to Reuters.
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Putin was responding to Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, who suggested to "begin immediate preparations" for nuclear testing in the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya.
Belousov told Putin that recent remarks and actions by the United States meant that it was "advisable to prepare for full-scale nuclear tests" immediately.
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Last week, US President Donald Trump, in a surprise announcement, said that he had directed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons. He said he did so because other nations were also doing it.
"Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately," Trump had said.
Aside from North Korea, no country has carried out an atomic weapon test involving a nuclear explosion in the 21st century, according to AFP. The United States last tested in 1992, China and France in 1996.
