The claims that Russia and China violated the moratorium on nuclear tests are false, Russian President Dmitry Peskov's press secretary said, according to REN TV.
„There were statements about lifting the moratorium on nuclear tests, claiming that it was violated by the Chinese and Russians. But this is not true. Neither the Chinese nor the Russians violated it," he said.
Peskov also recalled that Beijing categorically rejected US accusations of violating the moratorium.
In early February, Washington accused China of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020.
The Chinese Embassy in the US, in turn, called these allegations groundless and an attempt by Washington to evade its disarmament obligations.
A day earlier, on February 18, the US State Department called on China to admit that it had conducted a secret nuclear test. The same day, an unnamed senior State Department official told the South China Morning Post that the US would resume nuclear tests to deal with the "opaque" Beijing's activities.
These statements came after the expiration of the "New START" treaty, the last agreement limiting the nuclear arsenals of the two countries, on February 5. Instead of extending the treaty, US President Donald Trump proposed the development of a new "modernized" treaty that would take into account China's arsenals.