Russia Orders Proposals on Nuclear Test Preparations After Trump Says He Authorized Resumption

Overview

• At a Security Council session, Vladimir Putin directed key agencies to gather additional information and submit coordinated proposals on possibly starting preparatory work for nuclear tests.
• Defence Minister Andrey Belousov told the meeting it would be appropriate to begin preparations at the Novaya Zemlya test site.
• President Donald Trump said he ordered nuclear weapons testing to resume "on equal terms" with other countries, without clarifying the types of tests he meant.
• The United States conducted a Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile test launch on Wednesday.
• Commentators including Eddie Gonzalez and Andrey Kortunov described Trump’s statement as performative politics, with Kortunov saying he could still delay the move and warning that reciprocal full-scale tests would put the test-ban regime in doubt.