Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday instructed his government to prepare concrete plans for resuming nuclear weapons tests, citing Donald Trump’s recent statements as a direct threat to global strategic stability. During a televised Security Council meeting, Putin ordered the Defence Ministry, Foreign Ministry, and Rosatom to analyse Washington’s intentions and submit detailed proposals “in case the Americans decide to blow up a nuclear weapon.” The directive marks the sharpest escalation in nuclear rhetoric since Russia suspended its ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 2023.

Putin explicitly tied his order to Trump’s October 30 social media post from South Korea, where the US president declared he had “ordered full-scale testing of our nuclear capabilities on an equal basis with Russia and China.” Although US Energy Secretary Chris Wright clarified on Sunday that the tests would involve only subcritical experiments without nuclear explosions, Putin dismissed the distinction as “word games”. “If the United States conducts a real nuclear explosion, Russia will respond immediately and symmetrically,” he warned, adding that Moscow’s Novaya Zemlya test site in the Arctic remains fully operational.

The Russian leader reiterated his long-standing “mirror policy”: Moscow will not test first but will match any American move within weeks. Kremlin sources told Interfax that the proposals due by December 1 could include everything from subcritical experiments to full-yield atmospheric detonations, depending on Washington’s actions. Putin also referenced Russia’s successful October tests of the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile and Poseidon torpedo-drone, boasting that “our new weapons make any American test look like a firecracker.”

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The announcement sent shockwaves through global capitals. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte called it “reckless brinkmanship that endangers humanity,” while China’s Foreign Ministry urged both sides to “exercise maximum restraint.” In Washington, the State Department reiterated that the US remains committed to the CTBT moratorium, but arms-control experts warn that Trump’s rhetoric has already shattered three decades of de facto taboo. With both superpowers now openly preparing for the unthinkable, the world edges closer to the first nuclear explosion since North Korea’s 2017 test.

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