Putin says Russia considers resuming nuclear tests after Trump comments

by AFP Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) Nov 5, 2025

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia would consider resuming nuclear tests if the United States did so, convening a security council meeting after US President Donald Trump's comments on testing.

The statement marks the latest episode of nuclear sabre-rattling between the world's two largest atomic powers, after Putin and Trump failed to find ways to resolve the Ukraine conflict.

Putin ordered Russia's defence and foreign ministries, as well as security services, to "gather information on this topic" and make "proposals on the possible start of preparation works for nuclear weapons tests".

Russia has not conducted a nuclear test since 1990, the year before the collapse of the USSR.

Trump said on social media last week that he had instructed the Pentagon to "start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis" with Russia and China. It was unclear whether he was referring to tests involving nuclear warheads or not.

During the security council meeting, Putin was responding to Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, who suggested to "begin immediate preparations" for nuclear testing in the Arctic archipelago Novaya Zemlya.

The Russian leader has repeatedly said that if Washington carries out a nuclear test Moscow will do the same.

In October, Putin oversaw two tests of nuclear-capable weapons, which excluded atomic warheads.

Trump has been trying to end fighting between Russia and Ukraine since he returned to the White House in January.

Talks have yielded no progress however, and he has shown increasing frustration with Putin, who has rejected multiple calls for a ceasefire.

Aside for North Korea, no country has carried out an atomic weapon test involving a nuclear explosion in the 21st century.

Finnish leader says 'new era of nuclear weapons' has begun
Helsinki (AFP) Nov 3, 2025 - Finnish President Alexander Stubb on Monday said that "a new era of nuclear weapons" had begun, after the United States last week announced it planned new nuclear weapons tests.

Stubb said the "logic of deterrence" and "strategic stability between the superpowers" were undergoing a transformation.

"We have entered a new era of nuclear weapons, in which, unfortunately, the significance of nuclear weapons has been increasing," Stubb said in a speech in Helsinki.

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States will begin testing nuclear weapons, raising questions about whether he meant conducting the country's first nuclear explosion since 1992.

The announcement came in the wake of Russia saying it had tested a new nuclear-powered cruise missile, the Burevestnik, and a nuclear-powered and nuclear-capable underwater drone.

No country other than North Korea is known to have conducted a nuclear detonation for decades.

Russia and China have not carried out such tests since 1990 and 1996 respectively.

On Sunday, Trump alleged that countries including Russia and China have conducted underground nuclear tests unknown to the public, and that the United States would follow suit.

"How can we build deterrence together? How can we control escalation?" Stubb said were questions a small country like Finland, which shares a 1,340-kilometre (830-mile) border with Russia, now needed to consider together with allies.

Dropping decades of military non-alignment, the Nordic country joined the US-led NATO military alliance in 2023, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.