Russia says it may consider 'own options' if US resumes nuclear testing under Trump’s watch

Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, has warned the incoming administration of Donald Trump against resuming nuclear weapons testing. He said that Moscow would consider its options in response to what he described as an "extremely hostile" approach from Washington.

Speaking to Russia's Kommersant newspaper, Ryabkov pointed towards the challenges of the current international climate, saying, "The international situation is extremely difficult at the moment, the American policy in its various aspects is extremely hostile to us today."

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He added, "So the options for us to act in the interests of ensuring security and the potential measures and actions we have to do this - and to send politically appropriate signals... does not rule anything out."

During Trump’s first term as president from 2017 to 2021, there were discussions within his administration about conducting the first US nuclear test since 1992, according to a 2020 Washington Post report.

This stance was seen as a radical shift from the norms established by the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which aims to prohibit all nuclear explosions for both civilian and military purposes.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin formally withdrew Russia’s ratification of the CTBT, aligning with the United States, which signed the treaty in 1996 but has never ratified it.

While post-Soviet Russia has not conducted any nuclear tests, the Soviet Union last tested in 1990. Putin has said that Russia would only consider conducting a nuclear test if the United States did so first.

Since the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, nuclear testing has been limited, with the United States last testing in 1992, China and France in 1996, India and Pakistan in 1998, and North Korea most recently in 2017, according to the Arms Control Association.

(With inputs from agencies)