Putin Orders Review of Nuclear Testing Options as Trump Calls for U.S. Test Resumption, Raising Fears of New Arms Race

Russia is weighing a return to nuclear weapons testing for the first time in over three decades, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s directive for Washington to resume its own tests “immediately.”

In a televised meeting with the Russian Security Council on Wednesday, President Vladimir Putin said that if the United States or any other signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) resumes testing, Moscow will take “reciprocal measures.”

“I instruct the Foreign and Defence Ministries, along with our intelligence agencies, to collect all relevant data, assess the situation, and submit coordinated proposals on the potential first steps for preparations for nuclear weapons tests,” Putin said, according to an official Kremlin transcript.

The statement marks a dramatic escalation in nuclear rhetoric, further straining relations between the world’s two largest atomic powers.

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A Dormant Threat Reawakened

Russia last tested a nuclear device in 1990, shortly before the Soviet Union’s collapse. The United States halted nuclear explosive testing in 1992, under a moratorium issued by President George H. W. Bush.

Since then, both countries have adhered informally to the CTBT, signed in 1996, though neither has formally ratified it. The treaty bans all nuclear test explosions, aiming to prevent an arms race and contain the spread of nuclear technology.

Trump’s recent order to the Department of Defense to resume tests “on an equal basis” with other nuclear powers effectively breaks with that long-standing global consensus. His decision followed U.S. sanctions on two Russian oil firms and his cancellation of a bilateral summit in Hungary, signaling a sharp downturn in U.S.–Russia relations.

The move also came just days after Trump condemned Moscow’s testing of its Burevestnik missile, a nuclear-powered cruise missile designed to carry a nuclear payload and fly virtually indefinitely.

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Russia’s Security Calculus

At Wednesday’s meeting, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov warned that Washington’s new posture “significantly increases the level of military threat to Russia,” stressing that Moscow must ensure its nuclear forces remain capable of “inflicting unacceptable damage.”

He added that the Novaya Zemlya testing site in the Russian Arctic—where the Soviet Union once conducted atmospheric and underground tests—could become operational “on short notice” if Putin gives the order.

General Valery Gerasimov, Chief of the Russian General Staff, cautioned that delaying preparations could “cost Russia critical time” in responding to U.S. actions.

Despite the strong rhetoric, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov clarified that Putin had set no immediate deadline for the proposals, saying that any decision would depend on Washington’s next steps.

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The Global Nuclear Landscape

According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (CACNP), Russia possesses roughly 5,459 nuclear warheads, with about 1,600 deployed. The United States holds around 5,550, including 3,800 active warheads.

Other nuclear powers—China, France, Britain, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea—collectively hold a fraction of those numbers, though China has been rapidly expanding its arsenal, now estimated at around 600 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Since the CTBT’s introduction, only three countries have tested nuclear weapons: India and Pakistan in 1998, and North Korea, which has conducted six tests since 2006, most recently in 2017.

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Fears of a New Arms Race

Experts warn that renewed nuclear testing by the United States—or Russia—could shatter decades of restraint and destabilize the global arms control framework.

“Once one nuclear power resumes testing, others will feel compelled to follow,” said Andrey Baklitskiy, a senior researcher at the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research. “It’s a classic action-reaction cycle that risks triggering a new nuclear arms race.”

Baklitskiy cautioned that such a cycle could undo years of non-proliferation progress and increase the danger of nuclear confrontation.

Environmental groups have also voiced alarm, noting that nuclear tests release radioactive material and have long-term ecological and health consequences.