Russia will refrain from conducting nuclear tests as long as the United States does the same, according to President Vladimir Putin’s chief advisor on arms control. This statement comes amid growing speculation that the Kremlin may reconsider its post-Soviet nuclear test moratorium. As the U.S. and its European allies deliberate on granting Ukraine the capability to launch strikes deep into Russian territory using Western missiles, discussions about the possibility of Russia resuming nuclear testing have intensified.

Recently, the Russian state newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta featured an interview with Andrei Sinitsyn, the head of Russia’s nuclear test facility at Novaya Zemlya, who indicated that the site is prepared for a return to full-scale testing. Putin, who holds the ultimate authority over the world’s largest nuclear arsenal, has stated that any decision to resume nuclear testing in Russia would be contingent upon similar actions by the United States, emphasizing that he sees no necessity to employ such weapons to achieve victory in the conflict in Ukraine.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, responsible for Russian arms control policy, addressed the rumors regarding a potential nuclear test as a response to missile strikes within Russia. He stated to Russian news agencies, “Nothing has changed.” He emphasized that while the Russian Federation’s president has outlined the possibility of conducting such tests, they would refrain from doing so if the United States avoids similar actions.

Ryabkov noted that preparations at the Novaya Zemlya nuclear test site are being made to ensure it is “fully ready,” a move he attributed to the United States enhancing its own testing capabilities. According to CNN, all three nations—Russia, the United States, and China—have recently developed new facilities and tunnels at their nuclear test sites.

Since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia has not performed any nuclear tests, with the last Soviet test occurring in 1990 and the last U.S. test in 1992. This century, only North Korea has conducted nuclear explosion tests.

Ryabkov expressed concern over reports indicating that the United States has no immediate intentions to withdraw a mid-range missile system stationed in the Philippines. He noted that Russia is contemplating its response, which may include military considerations.

NUCLEAR TEST?
The ongoing conflict in Ukraine, now in its second and a half year, has led to the most significant tension between Russia and the West since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, a period recognized as the closest the two Cold War superpowers came to a deliberate nuclear conflict.

Following the Cuban crisis, U.S. President John F. Kennedy and Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev discussed the possibility of establishing a nuclear testing ban.

In 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin officially withdrew Russia’s ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), aligning Russia’s stance with that of the United States.

The potential resumption of nuclear testing could signal the beginning of a new and unstable nuclear era, coinciding with efforts by Russia, the United States, and China to modernize their nuclear arsenals.

Washington identifies Russia and China as its primary nation-state adversaries, while Beijing and Moscow, having strengthened their alliance during the Ukraine conflict, view the United States as a waning superpower that has contributed to global instability.

The Soviet Union surprised the West by detonating its first nuclear bomb in 1949 in Kazakhstan. The United States initiated the nuclear age in July 1945 with a 20-kiloton bomb test at Alamogordo, New Mexico, followed by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki a month later, which brought World War II to a close.

For many scientists and activists, the extensive nuclear testing conducted during the Cold War exemplified the dangers of nuclear brinkmanship, which poses a threat to humanity and could render parts of the planet uninhabitable for millennia.