Image Credit: Galerie Bilderwelt / Contributor / Getty 
On Wednesday Russian Defense Minister Andrey Belousov said the Kremlin should prepare for full-scale nuclear weapons testing. Moscow has not tested a nuclear weapon since 1990 but a renewed interest in the bomb was triggered when President Donald Trump announced on October 30 that the U.S. will resume nuclear weapons testing.
“Moscow must respond to Washington’s steps to ensure the security of Russia. It is expedient to start preparing for full-scale nuclear tests immediately,” Belousov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin maintains that as long as other countries refrain from nuclear testing, Russia would too.
“If the U.S. or other states party to the relevant treaty conduct such tests, then Russia will also be required to take appropriate retaliatory measures,” Putin said.
❗️Trump’s Desire for Armed Nuclear Weapons Tests Greatly Increases Level of Danger for Russia – 🇷🇺Def Min
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) November 5, 2025
“Moscow must respond to Washington’s steps to ensure the security of Russia, it is expedient to start preparing for full-scale nuclear tests immediately,” Belousov told… pic.twitter.com/Yx3PFUmlmG
According to RT:
Putin went on to instruct all relevant government agencies, including the Foreign Ministry and Defense Ministry, to gather and analyse the necessary information on US plans to restart nuclear tests, before submitting proposals on “the possible commencement of work on preparing for nuclear weapons tests.”
The term “full-scale” used by Belousov is noteworthy, as on Sunday President Donald Trump said that Russia and China are already conducting nuclear tests.
President Trump: Well, we have more nuclear weapons than any other country. And I think we should do something about denuclearization. And I did actually discuss that with both President Putin and President Xi. We have enough nuclear weapons to blow up the world 150 times. Russia has a lot of nuclear weapons, and China will have a lot. They have some. They have quite a bit, but—
Norah O’Donnell: So why do we need to test– our nuclear weapons?
President Trump: Well, because you have to see how they work. You know, you do have to— and the reason I’m saying— testing is because Russia announced that they were going to be doing a test. If you notice, North Korea’s testing constantly. Other countries are testing. We’re the only country that doesn’t test, and I want to be— I don’t want to be the only country that doesn’t test.
Norah O’Donnell: Are you saying that after more than 30 years, the United States is going to start detonating nuclear weapons for testing—
President Trump: I’m saying that we’re going to test nuclear weapons like other countries do, yes.
Norah O’Donnell: But the only country that’s testing nuclear weapons is North Korea. China and Russia are not—
President Trump: Well, Russia’s— no, no. Russia’s testing nuclear weapons—
Norah O’Donnell: So my understanding–
President Trump: And China’s testing ’em too. You just don’t know about it.
Norah O’Donnell: That would be certainly very newsworthy. My understanding is what Russia did recently was test essentially the— delivery systems for nuclear weapons, essentially missiles, which we can do that but w— not with nuclear warheads—
President Trump: Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re a open society. We’re different. We talk about it. We have to talk about it, because otherwise you people are going to report— they don’t have reporters that going to be writing about it. We do.
Trump is likely referring to Russia and China conducting subcritical nuclear testing, which the U.S. also already does. Kremlin Spokesman Dimitri Peskov said that Moscow is still waiting for a clarification as to what Trump really means.
“The U.S. Department of Energy conducts a variety of “subcritical” nuclear weapons tests. This type of test is termed “subcritical” because it uses fissile materials but there is no self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. Most subcritical tests employ weapons grade plutonium (Pu-239) in various configurations. In recent years, subcritical tests have been conducted underground at the Nevada Test Site. Subcritical tests also can be conducted using an isotope of plutonium with a higher critical mass (Pu-242) which allows test devices to more closely resemble actual nuclear weapons triggers in size and shape. Both kinds of tests also can be conducted in some cases in vessels above ground,” The Los Alamos Study Group said.
NBC reported on the atomic developments with Trump:
Asked whether he planned to resume actual explosive nuclear tests underground, the president told reporters Friday, “You’ll find out very soon, but we’re going to do some testing, yeah.”
Currently the U.S. and Russia are banned from conducting all but underground nuclear weapons testing under the 1963 Limited Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. A 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty would also ban underground testing, although it is not entered into force.
