Moscow has observed a voluntary moratorium since 1990
Russia does not rule out the resumption of nuclear tests, which it has not conducted since the waning days of the Soviet Union, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov has said.
Asked in an interview with TASS on Saturday whether Moscow is considering this option as a response to the escalatory actions of the US, Ryabkov replied that “the issue is on the agenda.”
“Without getting ahead of myself, I will simply say that the situation is quite complex. It is constantly being considered in all its components and aspects,” he said.
Despite being a major nuclear power, modern Russia has never conducted a nuclear test under a voluntary moratorium, with the last one dating back to 1990 before the collapse of the Soviet Union.
The US, Russia’s main nuclear rival, conducted its last test in 1992 and has since relied on computer simulations and subcritical tests, meaning that the tests do not use enough fissile material to produce a self-sustaining reaction. The last known test of this type took place in May, with Moscow saying it was “looking closely at what is happening” at American test sites.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said last year that Moscow should be ready to resume nuclear testing if the US does. “We know for a fact that some people in Washington are considering running the real-life tests of their nuclear weapons while the US is developing new types of nuclear weapons,” he said at the time. “We won’t be the first to do this, of course, but if the US conducts such a test, then we will too.”
Ryabkov’s comments come after the US allowed Ukraine to carry out strikes deep into Russia using American-made long-range weapons, despite Moscow’s warnings that this would lead to a major escalation of the conflict. After Kiev launched several attacks, Russia retaliated by striking a Ukrainian defense facility with the new Oreshnik medium-range hypersonic missile.
Before this, Moscow also amended its nuclear strategy to stipulate that “aggression against Russia by any non-nuclear state, but with the participation or support of a nuclear state” would be treated as a “joint attack,” crossing the nuclear threshold.
