Russia will resume nuclear weapons tests only if other nuclear-powered nations do so, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday.
Mr. Lavrov added that Russia is concerned by President Trump’s announcement late last month that the U.S. would resume nuclear testing after a 33-year pause. The foreign minister said Moscow is prepared to discuss with Washington accusations that Russia has carried out secret “underground” atomic tests.
“We are ready to discuss the suspicions raised by our American colleagues regarding the possibility that we might be secretly doing something deep underground,” Mr. Lavrov said.
Russia reportedly has not conducted an explosive nuclear test since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. North Korea is the only nuclear-armed state that has carried out atomic weapons testing this century.
Mr. Trump announced in late October that he had instructed the Pentagon to begin the process of restarting nuclear testing. He added that the decision was necessary to keep up with rival nuclear states.
“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,” Mr. Trump wrote.
Mr. Lavrov announced Saturday that preparations were underway for a Russian nuclear test following an order from Russian President Vladimir Putin. After Mr. Trump’s announcement, Mr. Putin said Russia is committed to fulfilling its responsibilities under the Nuclear Test Ban treaty and said he hopes the U.S. would follow suit.
