Overview
- During a televised Security Council meeting, Vladimir Putin tasked the defense and foreign ministries, intelligence services, and civilian agencies with gathering information and submitting coordinated proposals for potential test preparations.
- Defense Minister Andrei Belousov urged starting preparations immediately for large‑scale tests and said the Novaya Zemlya site could be readied quickly, while Gen. Valery Gerasimov noted timelines could range from months to years.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that no decision has been made to resume explosive testing and reiterated that Russia remains committed to its obligations against nuclear test detonations.
- President Donald Trump said on Oct. 30 he had instructed the Pentagon to begin testing U.S. nuclear weapons “immediately,” but U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright later clarified the activities would not involve nuclear detonations.
- The moves follow Russia’s recent public tests of nuclear‑capable systems such as the Poseidon drone and Burevestnik cruise missile and a routine U.S. Minuteman III launch, with both countries still observing a de facto moratorium since 1990/1992 under the CTBT’s norms, which the U.S. has not ratified and Russia annulled in 2023.