MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. A senior Russian lawmaker has warned the United States against conducting nuclear tests as this violation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) will trigger a chain reaction.
"If the United States carries out nuclear test, this will constitute a violation of the moratorium under the CTBT and trigger a chain reaction. Russia has repeatedly said (despite its re-ratification of this treaty) that it will remain committed to the ban on nuclear tests as long as other parties comply with it," Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the international committee of the Russian State Duma, or lower house of parliament, and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), told TASS.
According to the lawmaker, the US needs to take a responsible approach to nuclear deterrence to avoid such a scenario. "The ball is now in the Americans’ court," he stressed.
In November 2025, the White House said that the Pentagon had been instructed to resume nuclear weapons testing immediately, citing the fact that other countries were already doing so. It did not specify what kind of tests were meant or whether they would include the detonation of nuclear warheads.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said back then that Russia had always been committed to its obligations under the CTBT and would continue doing so until any other country conducted such tests.