Russia vs US over nuclear weapons testing: Putin thinks Trump's stance 'contradictory'; warns of retaliatory steps

Days after the United States President Donald Trump ordered nuclear testing, Russia has urged to clarify what it described as “contradictory signals” about a possible return to nuclear weapons testing. Russia has also warned that such a move would provoke reciprocal measures from Moscow and other nuclear powers. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova during a press briefing on Friday said that the decision by the US will have “negative dynamics and trigger steps from other states.” However, Trump had cited nuclear testing by Russia as reason for resuming American testing.

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“If it is the latter, then this will create negative dynamics and trigger steps from other states, including Russia, in response," said Zakharova. “For now, we note that the signals emanating from Washington, which are causing justified concern in all corners of the world, remain contradictory, and, of course, the real state of affairs must be clarified," she added Russian stance.

Earlier, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said that China would like the US to take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament. "China hopes the United States will earnestly abide by the obligations of the comprehensive nuclear-test-ban treaty and its commitment to a ban on nuclear testing, and take concrete actions to safeguard the global nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation system and safeguard global strategic balance and stability," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

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Trump, on Oct 30, instructed the Department of War to start testing nuclear weapons "immediately." In a Truth Social post, Trump said that the United States has more nuclear weapons than any other country. Highlighting that he hates testing of nuclear weapons “because of the tremendous destructive power,” Trump added that he is ordering the same because of the testing programs of other nations. “Russia is second, and China is a distant third, but will be even within 5 years. 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,” he said in the post. In an interview on Sunday (Nov 2), he claimed that Pakistan is among the countries that have been actively testing nuclear weapons. He also highlighted that Russia, China, North Korea are also conducting nuclear tests.