Putin says Russia is considering resuming nuclear tests

Moscow’s last nuclear test dates back to 1990, shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union. However, Russia regularly tests, like other countries, with vectors that do not carry nuclear payloads, as it recently did with the Poseidon underwater drone and the Burevestnik missile.

The Russian leader assured, this Wednesday, that Russia “has always scrupulously respected its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty”, but “if the United States or other signatory states of the Treaty carried out these tests, Russia would be forced to take appropriate measures in retaliation”.

Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov said he “considers it appropriate to immediately begin preparations for large-scale nuclear tests”, citing the Nova Zembla archipelago in the Arctic as a possible testing ground.

According to him, the American plans “considerably increase the level of military threat to Russia.”