Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Sergey Ryabkov, has stated that Russia will not conduct nuclear tests first. His remarks were reported on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
According to Ryabkov, Moscow is investigating reports that the US National Nuclear Security Agency is conducting an underground explosion using a chemical explosive at the test site in Nevada.
“If this information is true (it is currently being verified), it does not involve testing nuclear weapons, and this explosion does not violate the US moratorium on nuclear testing or the provisions of the yet-to-be-ratified Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,” the diplomat pointed out.
Ryabkov emphasized that Moscow continues to monitor the situation. He also mentioned President Vladimir Putin’s statement in his address to the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on February 21, 2023, that Russia will conduct nuclear tests only if the US does so.
Earlier, the First Deputy Chairman of the Committee of the Federation Council of Russia on International Affairs, Vladimir Dzhabarov, expressed the opinion that the tests at the nuclear test site in the US state of Nevada are a demonstrative reaction by the US government to the decision of the State Duma of Russia to withdraw the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).
The Press Secretary of the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov, stated that Russia is closely monitoring the nuclear tests at the US test site.
Previously, the Dalai Lama called for the elimination of nuclear weapons.
