Putin is very worried.
According to reports from Russian state-controlled media on Friday, the Kremlin is closely monitoring a recent high-explosive experiment conducted by the United States at a nuclear testing site in Nevada.
According to Fox, the experiment, which took place on Wednesday, involved the use of various chemicals and radioisotopes to validate new predictive explosion models aimed at enhancing the detection of atomic explosions in other countries. This information was relayed by Bloomberg, citing the Department of Energy.
Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary for the Russian presidency, disclosed during a press briefing that Russia is currently keeping a watchful eye on the situation. Notably, the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia had previously expressed the view that the underground tests carried out on October 18 in Nevada should undergo international legal assessment. This perspective is grounded in the fact that the United States is a signatory to the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and is thus obligated to refrain from violating this agreement, as reported by Interfax News Agency.
Corey Hinderstein, the Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, emphasized that these experiments serve to advance the development of new technology in support of U.S. nuclear nonproliferation objectives. Their primary goal is to enhance the global capacity to detect underground nuclear explosive tests, thereby reducing the overall nuclear threats on a global scale.
The timing of the U.S. test is particularly significant. Russian legislators have publicly announced their intent to revoke their ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The proposed bill will be deliberated in the Russian upper house, the Federation Council, in the coming week, with lawmakers in the Federation Council already indicating their support for the bill.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, adopted in 1996, universally prohibits all nuclear explosions worldwide, although it has yet to be fully enacted. Several countries, including the U.S., China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, Israel, Iran, and Egypt, have not ratified the treaty. Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov had previously stated that Moscow would continue to uphold the ban and would only consider resuming nuclear tests if Washington did so first.