Overview
- At a Security Council session, Vladimir Putin directed agencies to gather information and present proposals for possible preparatory work on Russian nuclear tests.
- Defense Minister Andreï Belooussov urged immediate preparations for large-scale trials and identified Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic as a potential site.
- Putin said Russia has honored its CTBT obligations but warned of retaliatory measures if the United States or other signatories conduct such tests.
- President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to begin testing, while Energy Secretary Chris Wright said the activities would be non‑critical experiments rather than nuclear explosions.
- Russia’s SVR chief Sergei Naryshkin said diplomats asked Washington to clarify Trump’s statements, and Libération reported the U.S. has begun subcritical pit testing, a claim not officially confirmed.