WASHINGTON, February 2. /TASS/. The United States should be prepared to simultaneously deter both Russia and China over the next decade, Administrator of the US National Nuclear Security Administration Jill Hruby told the 2024 Nuclear Deterrence Summit.

In her words, Russia has been demonstrating "destabilizing behavior," including by deploying its tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, and allegedly was "vehemently rejecting arms control dialog with the United States."

"In addition, China continues to modernize and expand its nuclear arsenal at a rapid pace while introducing advanced technologies like hypersonics and new dual-use technology. As a result, both US Strategic Command and the bipartisan Strategic Posture Commission are clear - we must be ready to deter two near-peer nuclear powers within a decade," she said.

Kill Hurbe also added that the United States has maintained its readiness to carry out an underground nuclear test."Although we use the site for both subcritical and nonproliferation experiments, we have been clear that we have no plans to conduct a nuclear explosive test even though, as required, we maintain and evaluate test readiness," she said.

The official told the Arms Control Today journal in December 2023 that the United States has no need to resume nuclear tests at this point.

Earlier, Vladimir Yermakov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control, said that Washington consistently maintains its proving grounds in Nevada in a state of high readiness and, therefore, Moscow believed that the Americans had not abandoned the idea of conducting a full-fledged nuclear test as part of efforts to modernize the US nuclear arsenal.