Putin orders nuclear testing preparations after Trump's surprise shift
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Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Nov. 5. Photo: Gavriil Grigorov/POOL /AFP via Getty Images
Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered officials Wednesday to submit proposals to possibly resume nuclear tests, days after President Trump's surprise directive for the U.S. to end its moratorium on the practice.
Why it matters: Russia boasts the world's biggest nuclear stockpile, and has increasingly threatened to use it as its war in Ukraine has dragged on.
- The White House and State Department did not immediately respond to Axios' request for comment on Putin's directive.
Driving the news: Putin reaffirmed that if the U.S. conducted such tests, Russia would respond, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
- He instructed the foreign and defense ministries to collect additional information and make proposals over the possible start of nuclear weapons tests.
- Defense Minister Andrei Belousov, according to NBC's translation, urged his government to begin preparing for "full-scale nuclear testing immediately" in response to Washington.
Yes, but: Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov emphasized in a statement to CNN that Russia is "just investigating whether it is necessary to start preparations" and is still bound by "our obligations on the overall ban of nuclear tests."
The big picture: Trump perplexed national security experts with his vague order to the Department of Defense to start "testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis" with other countries — "immediately."
- What that would look like remains unclear. The president and his energy secretary, Chris Wright, gave seemingly conflicting messages in subsequent interviews.
- The U.S. hasn't conducted a nuclear test in decades. Trump's sudden shift comes amid a renewed emphasis on nuclear capabilities around the world.
- Wright said on "The Sunday Briefing" on Fox News that the tests wouldn't include explosions. "I think the tests we're talking about right now are system tests," he said.
State of play: Trump has claimed that U.S. adversaries are already conducting such testing. But as Axios' Dave Lawler reports, there have been no reports made public of Russia or China doing so.
- Russia did recently test a new nuclear-powered long-ranged missile.
- China's nuclear buildup has drawn attention from the Pentagon, but Beijing's arsenal still lags behind Russia and the U.S.
- A global push to discourage further proliferation prompted the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. Only a handful of countries have conducted full-fledged nuclear tests since that time.
Go deeper: Why the U.S. stopped testing nuclear bombs
