MOSCOW, October 5. /TASS/. If the United States starts taking measures to resume nuclear tests, Russia will immediately respond in kind, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said on RT television.

The senior Russian diplomat made this comment for a documentary that was aired on December 15, 2023, the Russian Foreign Ministry specified on Saturday.

"If processes begin, which will mean that the US is looking in the direction of resuming nuclear tests, we will take action. Russia will immediately respond in kind," he said.

Ryabkov said Russia withdrew the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty in November 2023 because it "ran out of patience."

"We had waited 23 years. That was the end of the story. What will happen next is an open question. The answer fully depends on what policy the US and its allies will pursue," he said.

The diplomat said the withdrawal of the ratification is not the same as the withdrawal from the treaty.

"We continue to act in accordance with its spirit and letter," he said.