Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with Russian media today that Moscow would conduct nuclear weapons tests if other nuclear powers did too, Reuters reported, BTA reported.
Moscow is ready to discuss US concerns about what Washington has described as “suspicious underground activities”, Lavrov said. He added that Russia is concerned by US statements suggesting that nuclear tests could be used for geopolitical purposes.
According to Lavrov, the US could significantly move away from the concept of the inadmissibility of nuclear war.
Russia, recalling the responsibility of the great powers to prevent nuclear war, also proposed a one-year extension of the restrictions under the Strategic Offensive Arms Treaty in order to have time to conduct an analysis and stop “measuring everything by the Ukrainian yardstick“.
According to Moscow, the decision to extend the restrictions could be made at any time until February 5, 2026, when the treaty itself expires. No further consultations with the US are needed for its continuation, only Washington's consent, the Russian foreign minister noted.
Regarding contacts between Moscow and Washington, the Russian foreign minister said that the Kremlin remains committed to the agreements between Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump and had expected an initiative from the White House to choose the time and place of a preliminary meeting to precede the summit in Budapest, which did not take place.
The Russian side is ready to discuss with the US the resumption of preparations for a meeting between Putin and Trump "if and when our American colleagues resume their proposal," Lavrov said.
Budapest, as before, remains Russia's preferred meeting location, "especially since Donald Trump confirmed during his meeting with (Hungarian Prime Minister) Viktor Orban that Budapest is also preferred by Washington," he added.