Trump says he could work on a “denuclearization” plan with Russia and China. “We are the number 1 nuclear power, which I hate to admit”
Donald Trump. Photo credit: BONNIE CASH / UPI / Profimedia
US President Donald Trump did not rule out the possibility of cooperation with Moscow and Beijing on nuclear disarmament on Wednesday, in the context of last week's announcement that he had ordered the US military to resume nuclear tests.
“We make the best equipment, the best missiles (…), the best everything. We have rebuilt our nuclear capability, we are the number 1 nuclear power, which I hate to admit, because it is so terrible, it is such a terrible situation, if it should ever be used,” Donald Trump was quoted as saying by Reuters and the Russian news agency TASS.
“Russia is second, China is third, by a long way, but they will catch up in four or five years (…). Maybe we are working on a denuclearization plan, the three of us. We will see if that works,” added the American leader.
Last Thursday, the US president announced that he had ordered the military to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time in 33 years. The announcement was made minutes before his meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, according to Reuters.
On Sunday, the US Secretary of Energy said that the nuclear tests ordered by US President Donald Trump will not, for now, involve nuclear explosions.
Today, in the context of the announcement made last week by Trump, President Vladimir Putin convened the Security Council of Russia, ordering the ministries of defense and foreign affairs and secret services to develop proposals regarding a possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing, according to AFP.
He argued that Russia has always strictly adhered to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), but that if the US or any other nuclear power tests such weapons, Russia will do the same.
The US last conducted a nuclear test in 1992, China and France in 1996, and the Soviet Union in 1990. Post-Soviet Russia, which inherited the Soviet nuclear arsenal, has never done so, according to Reuters.
