Nuclear arms race. Washington accuses Beijing and Moscow of secret attempts

The US administration is still in discussions on how to implement President Donald Trump's order to resume nuclear tests, Thomas DiNanno, Undersecretary of State for Arms Control at the State Department, said on Tuesday. He confirmed that underground tests are being carried out by China and Russia.

DiNanno answered questions from senators from the Foreign Affairs Committee on Tuesday, including: on Trump's order last year for the United States to resume nuclear tests “on an equal footing” with China and Russia.

– We are still in discussions on how to implement this president's order – said the official. He noted, however, that China and Russia's clandestine underground nuclear tests – which are expected to reach several hundred tons – give them an “unacceptable advantage” over the US, which conducted its last test of this type in 1992. He assured Senator Jacky Rosen of Nevada – where the main US nuclear test site is located – that no one in the administration has yet discussed the possibility of conducting a nuclear test in the atmosphere.

Since 1992, the USA has only conducted simulations and the so-called subcritical tests that do not trigger a full nuclear explosion. In February this year DiNanno publicly accused China for the first time of conducting an explosive test in 2020 and using techniques to make it harder to detect. He then said that the US had information about Beijing's intention to conduct further nuclear tests.

During Tuesday's hearing, the diplomat also referred to the negotiations with Russia on nuclear arms control in the face of the expiration of the New START treaty. DiNanno pointed out that the old treaty did not cover neither China's arsenal nor Russia's new “exotic” missilesand, such as the nuclear-capable Poseidon torpedo-drone and the Burevestnik nuclear-powered cruise missile.

These exotic systems are becoming crazy even for Russians, he said. – We definitely need to start direct talks with the Russians on this subject.

From Washington Oskar Górzyński (PAP)

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