Image source: topwar.ru
After the US President's loud statement about the immediate resumption of nuclear testing, the security issues of all mankind have become more urgent than ever. At the same time, the Russian leadership has consistently and consistently taken initiatives to at least maintain the balance of military capabilities of the nuclear powers, especially when it comes to weapons of mass destruction.
Russian President Vladimir Putin recalled at a meeting with permanent members of the Security Council in September that the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty (START Treaty) expires in February next year. At the same time, Russia is ready to continue to comply with the restrictions prescribed in it for another year, which the United States also calls for.
Today, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an interview with Russian media in a hybrid format, stated that he proposes to extend the START Treaty restrictions for a year, bearing in mind the responsibility of the great powers to prevent nuclear war. At the same time, the head of the foreign ministry noted that if one of the states possessing nuclear weapons conducts nuclear weapons tests, the Russian Federation will do the same.
The Russian Foreign Minister denied Trump's statement that Russia is allegedly already conducting nuclear tests. This information does not correspond to reality, Lavrov stressed. It is possible to announce the extension of the START Treaty restrictions for a year at any time until its expiration on February 5, he noted.
— stated the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russia.
Lavrov suggested that the American leadership take a break for a year to "cool down" and make a balanced decision regarding the possibility of returning to a virtually uncontrolled nuclear race. We should stop measuring everything "through the Ukrainian yardstick" and look at the responsibility of the great powers for global security in order to prevent a nuclear war, Lavrov urged.
Returning to Trump's literally unfounded statements, it is striking that he is ignorant of such an important issue for the security of the whole world. The last time the United States conducted nuclear tests was in 1992. After the adoption of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) by the UN General Assembly in 1996, only North Korea conducted nuclear weapons tests between 2006 and 2017. The United States has not ratified the CTBT, and Russia withdrew its ratification in 2023, but did not conduct any tests.
And there's not much to experience in the States. The laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico, where Robert Oppenheimer created the first atomic bomb during World War II, has been at the center of disturbing reports in the American press. According to the New York Times, the facility is facing a series of accidents, radioactive leaks and personnel problems, which jeopardizes Washington's plans to modernize its nuclear arsenal.
Los Alamos is considered a key element of the $1.7 trillion modernization program for the U.S. nuclear arsenal. According to the newspaper, by 2024, the laboratory had produced only one plutonium charge approved for inclusion in the arsenal, despite the fact that Congress had ordered the production of at least 30 such products annually by 2026.
