MOSCOW, April 20. /TASS/. Moscow maintains a strict commitment to the moratorium on nuclear testing but will respond in kind should the US or other countries violate said moratorium, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said.

"Russia, for its part, maintains a strict commitment to the national moratorium on nuclear testing, declared back in 1990. However, Russia will offer a proper and proportionate response should the United States and other counties conduct such tests," he pointed out, addressing a meeting of the Trialogue International Club.

"As for Washington’s statements about a potential resumption of full-scale nuclear testing, which could have a devastating impact on the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, we are confident that such a step would trigger a kind of self-sustaining chain reaction in this field, pushing a number of countries that possess nuclear weapons - including those that are not party to the Non-Proliferation Treaty - to conduct full-scale conduct explosive nuclear weapons tests," Ryabkov added.