Daijiworld Media Network - Moscow

Moscow, Nov 9: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday confirmed that President Vladimir Putin’s latest directive to study the feasibility of resuming nuclear tests is currently “being worked on.”

During a Security Council meeting on November 5, where Lavrov was absent, President Putin instructed the Foreign Ministry, Defence Ministry, intelligence agencies, and other civilian bodies to present proposals on preparing for possible nuclear weapons tests if the United States withdraws from the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) moratorium.

“The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has accepted for implementation the instruction given by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Security Council meeting on November 5; it has been accepted for implementation and is being worked on,” Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti.

He added that “the public will be informed of the results” once the work is completed.

Lavrov also revealed that Moscow has not yet received any clarification from Washington regarding US President Donald Trump’s recent remarks about the possible resumption of American nuclear tests. “So far, we have not received any explanation of what President Donald Trump meant when he announced the resumption of nuclear tests,” Lavrov told reporters, according to TASS.

During the televised Security Council meeting, President Putin asserted that Russia would only restart nuclear testing if the United States took that step first.

The move comes after President Trump announced last week that his administration plans to resume nuclear testing of US assets after more than three decades. Ahead of his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping on October 30, Trump stated that the US would begin testing nuclear weapons on an “equal basis” with rival powers.