MOSCOW, October 3. /TASS/. Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov considers discussions on nuclear testing inappropriate at the official level, since Russia has not abandoned the moratorium on nuclear testing.
"At present, after all, we have not withdrawn from the moratorium on nuclear testing, it has not happened so far, so at this point, I do not think that such discussions are possible from an official point of view," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
Peskov was commenting on remarks from Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the Russia Today news agency and RT television, about a potential nuclear test over Siberia meant to push a "nuclear ultimatum" on Russia’s opponents in an effort to resolve the military conflict in Ukraine.
"Margarita does not speak for the official government authorities, so her words do not always reflect the official position," he pointed out.
The last nuclear test explosion by the Soviet Union with a capacity of 70 kilotons took place on October 24, 1990 on Novaya Zemlya, after which the USSR declared a moratorium on nuclear weapons testing, which Russia also observes.