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Russia has responded to U.S. President Donald Trump ordering the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with Russia and China. The Kremlin denied Russia’s tests of the Burevestnik missile at a nuclear facility contravened nuclear weapons testing regulations. “If [Trump] is somehow referring to the Burevestnik test [as a nuclear test conducted by a certain country], then this is not a nuclear test in any way. All countries are developing their defense systems, but this is not a nuclear test,” Dmitry Peskov, Vladimir Putin‘s press secretary said Thurday according to the state-run TASS news agency. Trump Orders Nuclear Testing In a Truth Social post on Wednesday night, Trump wrote: “I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately.” He added: “The United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. “This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office.” U.S. President Donald Trump, left and Russian President Vladimir Putin talk during their meeting in the Presidential Palace in Helsinki, Monday, July 16, 2018. (Heikki Saukkomaa/Lehtikuva via AP) Why It Matters Russia and the United States continue to hold the world’s largest nuclear arsenals, each maintaining thousands of warheads—remnants of Cold War-era arms races that still define global strategic power. China ranks third but has been accelerating its nuclear buildup at an unprecedented pace. Analysts estimate Beijing’s stockpile reached roughly 600 warheads last year. Despite the growing competition, none of the three nuclear powers is believed to have conducted a test detonation since 1996, when China carried out its last known nuclear test before signing the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty—a global accord prohibiting all explosive testing of nuclear weapons. Russia Tests Poseidon Nuclear Torpedo That ‘Can Disable Entire States’ Trump’s order came hours after Putin announced the successful testing of Moscow’s nuclear-powered Poseidon torpedo, a long-range underwater drone capable of carrying a nuclear warhead. The Russian President said: “The power of Poseidon far exceeds that of our most advanced intercontinental missile, Sarmat. There’s nothing like it in the world.” Russian State Duma Defense Committee Chairman Andrei Kartapolov said: “This is really a very powerful type of weapon that is capable of incapacitating or disabling entire states from war. There is no antidote and countermeasures against it today. No one has analogues today.” Putin Hails Nuclear-Powered Cruise Missile After Latest Test In further tests of Moscow’s most destructive weapons, Putin last week hailed the country’s “unique” nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile after the military carried out new tests of the long-range missile. The Burevestnik, also known by its NATO moniker, SSC-X-9 Skyfall, is a ground-launched, nuclear-powered cruise missile. Russia claims the Burevestnik has a range long enough to strike the U.S.
