Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a media question

Photo: MFA

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s answer to a media question.

Question: At the November 5 meeting of Russia’s Security Council, Vladimir Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry, Defense Ministry, and special services to “submit coordinated proposals on the possible first steps focusing on preparations for nuclear weapons tests.” Has the Russian Foreign Ministry started already embarked on this effort? Has Moscow received clarifications from Washington via diplomatic channels about US President Donald Trump’s statement regarding the resumption of nuclear testing? Is there any understanding of what exactly the United States is planning to test, and what steps Russia might take in response should such tests begin?

Sergey Lavrov: No, so far we have not received any explanation via diplomatic channels of what President Donald Trump meant when he announced the resumption of nuclear tests. It is unclear whether it was a matter of testing nuclear weapons carriers, of conducting so-called subcritical tests (i.e. tests in which no nuclear reaction occurs – they are carried out by all nuclear states to maintain the safety and combat capability of nuclear stockpiles, and they do not violate the voluntarily obligations of such states, nor do they constitute a breach of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which has yet to enter into force). Or maybe Donald Trump really meant Washington’s intention to resume full-scale nuclear tests. Public comments by Washington officials suggest that they lack a shared understanding of what the President of the United States meant.

As for President Vladimir Putin’s instruction at the of the Security Council meeting on November 5, we took it on board and are working on it. We will communicate on the outcomes of this effort in due course.

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