MOSCOW, May 20. /TASS/. Russia is closely monitoring the situation in Nevada, where the US is conducting nuclear tests, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told reporters.
"We are closely watching the developments at the [Nevada] test site. Naturally, we have been registering all public signals coming from the US administration regarding this," Ryabkov said, taking a TASS reporter’s question.
Russia’s position remains unchanged, that as long as the United States refrains from full-scale nuclear tests, Russia would pursue a similar policy, something that Russian President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly reiterated.
"As regards [US] executing a subcritical experiment, this, as we see it, was to test the capability of the US nuclear arsenal," Ryabkov maintained. "We have also seen signals in the public domain that [the US] is weighing scenarios to develop it further, including not only delivery means, but also warheads. That, of course, is a major aspect that we also take into account in our defense planning," he added.
The US Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) successfully executed a subcritical experiment at the Nevada National Security Site on May 14. That experiment and all 33 previous US subcritical experiments were consistent with the zero-yield standard of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the administration said. NNSA Administrator Jill Hruby said in February that the United States maintained its readiness to carry out an underground nuclear test.