Kremlin says Russia committed to banning nuclear weapons testing

ISTANBUL

The Kremlin said Russia is committed to its obligation to ban nuclear weapons testing but warned that Moscow will maintain parity if other countries conduct such tests.

In remarks published by Russian media outlets on Sunday, including state news agency RIA, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian journalist Pavel Zarubin that neither Moscow nor Beijing is testing nuclear weapons, with the former remaining committed to banning such tests.

“But, if another country does this, then we will be obliged to do so in order to maintain parity,” Peskov said, defining nuclear parity as “perhaps the most important component of the global security architecture of our time.”

The spokesman’s remarks come as US President Donald Trump announced on Oct. 31 that he instructed the Department of Defense to “immediately” begin nuclear weapons tests “on an equal basis” due to “other countries' testing programs.” The US has not held a nuclear test since 1992.

Three days later, the US president said in an interview with CBS News' 60 Minutes program that North Korea is not the only country testing nuclear weapons, claiming that Russia and China are also testing.

In reaction to Trump’s statements, Russian President Vladimir Putin directed security officials earlier this week to gather information on the issue and draft proposals on the possibility of such tests by Moscow. Russia last conducted nuclear tests in 1990, when it was still part of the Soviet Union.

China also responded to Trump's statements, with Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning telling reporters that Beijing hopes the US will uphold the moratorium on nuclear testing.

In his interview with Zarubin, Peskov denied that Putin ordered the beginning of preparations for nuclear tests, expressing that it is first necessary to determine whether Moscow needs to conduct such tests, which he said “must be well-founded and carefully considered.”

He went on to say that Moscow needs clarification from Washington regarding Trump's statements about nuclear testing, defining them as “too serious” to be left unclear.

Peskov also warned that classifying Russia’s recent testing of the nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile and Poseidon unmanned underwater vehicle as nuclear tests would be an “extremely superficial and incorrect judgment” from an expert point of view.

“Firstly, we're talking about the delivery vehicle, and we're not talking about a nuclear explosion. This is a nuclear propulsion system or engine, so these are completely different topics,” he added.