Overview
- President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. to restart nuclear testing on an “equal basis,” but he has not specified if this includes underground nuclear‑explosive detonations.
- President Vladimir Putin told his Security Council that agencies must draft proposals for possible tests and warned Russia would take reciprocal measures if the U.S. or other CTBT signatories conduct explosive tests.
- The Russian Foreign Ministry urged Washington to clarify what it called contradictory signals, with Kremlin officials saying any preparatory steps depend on understanding U.S. intentions.
- Russia’s defence leadership cited readiness at the Novaya Zemlya test site, while the U.S. this week conducted an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM launch from California to the Marshall Islands.
- Analysts and officials caution that resuming explosive tests would erode long‑standing norms and could accelerate an arms race, as the last major U.S.–Russia arms‑control limit nears expiration.