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In the wake of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion earlier this year that the US would resume nuclear testing, a US government representative at a global nuclear arms control meeting defended the stance and hinted at nuclear provocation. Russia, China And north korea,
US chargé d’affaires for international organizations Vienna Howard Solomon made previously unpublished comments, obtained by The Associated Press, at the Preparatory Commission of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization on Nov. 10.
Solomon said, “As President Trump indicated, the United States will begin testing activities on an equal basis with other nuclear-armed states. This process will begin immediately and will proceed fully consistent with transparency and our commitment to national security.”
Solomon further clarified, saying, “For anyone who questions this decision, context is important. Since 2019, including in this forum, the United States has raised concerns that Russia and China have not adhered to the zero-yield nuclear test moratorium,” he said, adding that the concerns “remain legitimate.”
Solomon’s remarks referred to so-called supercritical nuclear test explosions banned under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, known as CTBT, where fissile material is compressed to initiate a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction that creates an explosion.
The amount of energy released by explosive tests is called nuclear yield, which defines the destructive power of the weapon. The treaty bans any nuclear explosion following a zero-yield standard, even a very small one.
“Our concerns with Russia and China are in addition to the activities of North Korea, which has conducted six nuclear explosive tests this century,” Solomon said.
The global monitoring network, established with the treaty in 1996 to register nuclear tests worldwide, has detected all six of North Korea’s nuclear tests this century. Those were trials with big consequences.
However, experts say the monitoring network is unable to detect very low-yield supercritical nuclear tests conducted in underground metal chambers.
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Solomon was referring to low-yield supercritical nuclear tests.
US says Russia and China are testing
China and Russia, which have signed the treaty but not ratified it, say they abide by the nuclear test moratorium.
But since 2019, the US State Department has publicly expressed concerns about China and Russia not adhering to their zero-yield testing moratorium. The annual report on compliance with arms control agreements to the US Congress cites possible activities at the Lop Nur nuclear test site in northwestern China’s Xinjiang region and the Novaya Zemlya site in Russia’s remote Arctic archipelago.
In an interview for “60 Minutes” broadcast November 2 on CBS News, Trump said, “Russia’s testing, and China’s testing, but they don’t talk about it. You know, we’re an open society. We’re different. We talk about it.”
Trump added, “They don’t go and tell you about it.” “You know, as powerful as they are, it’s a big world out there. You don’t necessarily know where they’re testing. They – they test in an underground way where people don’t know exactly what’s going on with the testing.”
A White House official, when asked for comment on whether Trump was referring to low-yield supercritical nuclear tests conducted underground, said the president had directed the tests be conducted “on an equal basis” with other countries. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record about testing plans.
The official said without giving further details that other countries have stepped up their testing programs and Trump wants to act accordingly.
Russia denies testing
Solomon’s comments in Vienna came in response to Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia’s permanent representative to international organizations, at a closed-door meeting of the Preparatory Commission of the CTBTO, a Vienna-based international body that monitors compliance with the nuclear test ban.
Ulyanov said, “The resumption of nuclear testing could cause significant harm to the nuclear non-proliferation regime and international security.”
“We consider it fundamentally important that the US side provide a clear and detailed statement of its position on resuming nuclear testing,” he said. “We expect the United States to respond appropriately and without delay.”
Ulyanov also rejected “completely unacceptable and unfounded allegations” that Russia is conducting nuclear tests.
“These are false allegations. We find such escalating rhetoric unacceptable,” he said.
Limited nuclear use remains a risk
Solomon refuted Ulyanov’s comments, saying, “It is surprising to hear such statements from a state that has not adhered to the zero-yield nuclear test moratorium.”
Solomon then cited additional US concerns, including Russia’s “ongoing violations” of New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control treaty between Moscow and Washington, Russia’s “disproportionately large” stockpile of non-strategic nuclear weapons, and the Russian nuclear doctrine.
The weapons mentioned by Solomon generally have less explosive power than strategic nuclear weapons and are designed for use on the battlefield. They can still cause massive destruction.
Despite being physically small, experts consider non-strategic nuclear weapons dangerous because the range of use is believed to be low. The weapons are not covered by arms control treaties, making it easier for Russia and other states to develop without monitoring or limits.
The Nuclear Notebook, a well-known annual report published by the Federation of American Scientists in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, highlights this point in this year’s edition.
“Of particular concern is the role that non-strategic nuclear weapons play as this may be the class of nuclear weapons that would be used first in a potential military escalation with NATO,” the report said.
According to the US State Department, Russia has between 1,000 and 2,000 non-strategic nuclear weapons in 2023, according to the latest declassified assessment, far more than the approximately 200 such weapons the US has.
Nuclear weapons control is on the ropes
In contrast, tactical nuclear weapons are even more powerful and are designed to be used deep inside enemy territory, far from the actual battlefield, where friendly forces may be located and at risk of being killed.
According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, the total numbers of deployed strategic nuclear weapons possessed by the US and Russia are comparable, with 1,718 for Moscow and 1,770 for Washington.
These weapons are limited by New START, formally known as the Treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms. It was signed by the Obama administration in 2010 and took effect as a 10-year agreement in February 2011.
Russia suspended its participation in New START in 2023 but did not withdraw from the treaty. In September Russian President Vladimir Putin announced Moscow’s readiness to abide by the treaty’s limits for another year.
Trump said in October that it “sounds like a good idea.”
Without the treaty, which expires on Feb. 5, the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals would be unrestricted for the first time in decades.
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The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage from the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Outrider Foundation. AP is solely responsible for all content.
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Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape: https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/