Russia , given the escalation policy of the US, may resume nuclear tests without waiting for a corresponding decision from the US side. This opinion was expressed to TASS by the deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University “Higher School of Economics”, an expert in the international discussion club “Valdai” Dmitry Suslov.
„We are closer to the possibility of resuming nuclear tests, taking into account the large-scale escalation that the US is currently carrying out”, the interlocutor said, commenting on the statement of the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Ryabkov that the Russian Federation is facing the question of resuming nuclear tests. “Russia's traditional policy on the issue of nuclear tests is that we will resume them if the US resumes them,” the expert continued. "Even the first resumption of nuclear tests, without waiting for the corresponding decision from the US, is possible. And the likelihood of this Russian decision has increased as a result of the escalation that the United States is currently carrying out," Suslov added.
He noted that the Biden administration has comprehensively started and accelerated the escalation: “this includes strikes on Russia with long-range missiles, the delivery of anti-personnel mines, a new package of anti-Russian sanctions, incl. sanctions against Gazprombank and the terrorist offensive in Syria towards the city of Aleppo”. “All these are escalation steps on the part of the USA”, he stressed. At the same time, we see that the question of the deployment of regular troops of NATO countries in Ukraine is discussed, leaks periodically appear in the press about the possible transfer of medium-range missiles and nuclear weapons to Ukraine.
In this context, the expert also pointed to the statement of the head of the NATO Military Committee, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, about the expediency of massive preventive missile strikes against Russia. "Russia must also respond and demonstrate readiness for escalation," the specialist noted. “And the resumption of nuclear tests is one of the steps on the ladder of escalation, and with that we make it clear that we are serious about the possibility of using nuclear weapons if something happens, that the updated Russian nuclear doctrine is not a bluff, but that this will be followed by concrete steps", he added.
The very statement of the Russian Federation about the possibility of resuming the tests has a deterrent effect on the West, the political scientist believes. “But if it doesn't, then we will probably have to actually move to practical steps and actually resume nuclear testing, but the next step in the same direction on the escalation ladder will be a demonstration nuclear explosion,” says the deputy director of the Center for Comprehensive European and international studies at the National Research University Graduate School of Economics.
According to Suslov, the victory of Donald Trump in the presidential elections "qualitatively and significantly increased the probability and speed of the resumption of nuclear tests by the USA". “Because many Republicans openly and persistently support the resumption of nuclear testing. This is due to the fact that they have lagged behind their competitors in this area," he explained.
The analyst also connects this position with the fact that the US is “focused on a joint confrontation with Russia and China as two rivals in the nuclear sphere”. “The US says that in 2030 China will reach the level of the US and Russia in terms of the quantity and quality of nuclear weapons. This implies an increase in the number of American nuclear weapons, and it is impossible to increase them without resuming nuclear tests, Suslov continued.
He opined that a decision to resume testing would be preceded by “further long-range missile strikes deep into Russian territory, further discourse about massive missile attacks against Russia, deliveries of various types of weapons for the Kiev regime.” “Russia is unlikely to resume nuclear testing before Trump takes office, but if the current escalation with the United States continues after the inauguration, then we may very well move toward renewed nuclear testing,”, he concluded.