MOSCOW, October 31. /TASS/. Donald Trump plans to resume nuclear testing, the US and China have reached a deal, and the Kiev regime avoids direct dialogue with Moscow. These stories topped Friday's headlines across Russia.
US President Donald Trump has instructed the Pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons "on an equal basis" with other countries. He announced this on Truth Social on October 30 ahead of his talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. Thus, it appears that the US may resume military nuclear explosive tests after a 33-year moratorium in effect since the end of the Cold War and would become the first country to test such weapons in the 21st century.
It is possible that Trump’s statement was a reaction to or a misinterpretation of Russian tests of the Burevestnik unlimited-range cruise missile, noted Dmitry Stefanovich, a researcher with the Center for International Security at the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Institute of World Economy and International Relations. "If this is the case, it points to the need to more actively inform at least key countries, both rivals and partners, about strategic arms testing," the expert emphasized.
Trump made a highly contradictory statement complicated by his mention of tests "on an equal basis," since China and Russia have not carried out nuclear arms tests for decades, said Vasily Kashin, director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the Higher School of Economics. All nuclear powers conduct tests of nuclear delivery vehicles and subcritical tests. For example, in May 2024, the National Nuclear Security Administration of the US Department of Energy reported such an experiment in Nevada to obtain data on the reaction of materials used in nuclear warheads.
