MOSCOW: Moscow on Thursday sought to cool rising nuclear tensions with Washington, after two tests of new Russian nuclear-capable weapons systems prompted US President Donald Trump order his own nuclear tests.
The Kremlin said its testing of nuclear-powered nuclear-capable weapons — the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Poseidon underwater drone — did not constitute a direct test of an atomic weapon.
Both countries observe a de facto moratorium on testing nuclear warheads, though Russia regularly runs military drills involving systems that are capable of carrying such weapons.
“Regarding the tests of Poseidon and Burevestnik, we hope that the information was conveyed correctly to President Trump,” Kremlin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists, including AFP, during a daily briefing.
“This cannot in any way be interpreted as a nuclear test,” he added.
Trump said Thursday he was ordering the US tests as a response to actions by other states.
“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” he said Thursday in a social media post.
But it was not immediately clear if Trump was referring to testing nuclear warheads — something the United States last did in 1992 — or testing weapons systems capable of carrying atomic warheads.
The Kremlin implied Thursday that it would also test nuclear warheads if Trump ordered a live test of an atomic weapon.
“If someone departs from the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Peskov said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has repeatedly said if the United States started testing nuclear weapons again, Russia would follow suit.
In 1996, the two countries signed — but have not ratified — the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which bans all atomic test blasts, whether for military or civilian purposes.
Announcing the recent tests, Putin boasted that Russia’s new nuclear-powered devices could reach any continent in the world and were impervious to defenses.
Russia and the United States hold 90 percent of the world’s nuclear arsenal, or about 11,000 warheads, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).
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Russia says recent weapons tests ‘not nuclear’ after Trump orders US tests
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Russia says recent weapons tests ‘not nuclear’ after Trump orders US tests
Philippine VP Sara Duterte impeachment case moves forward
- A Philippine congressional committee agreed overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte
MANILA: A Philippine congressional committee agreed overwhelmingly on Wednesday to advance the impeachment case against Vice President Sara Duterte, setting the stage for a potential vote that could decide her political future.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who in February announced a 2028 presidential bid, was impeached last year, only for the Supreme Court to toss the case out over procedural issues.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment by the House of Representatives triggers a Senate trial, where a guilty verdict would ban Duterte from elected office for life.
The new complaints, ruled “sufficient in substance” by a vote of 54-1 on Wednesday, accuse her of graft and corruption while in office and of making a death threat against former ally President Ferdinand Marcos.
She will now have 10 days to respond before the start of a hearing of probable cause necessary to move the complaints to a House vote.
“Our vote today is not a verdict of guilt nor an act of condemnation. It’s simply a decision on whether the constitutional process should move forward,” Representative Ferdinand Hernandez said minutes before the vote.
The vice president’s legal team said Wednesday they would not comment on specific allegations.
“For now, we will refrain from discussing the substance of the case in the media and will instead address these matters through the proper constitutional processes,” lawyer Michael Poa said in a statement.
The alleged death threat against Marcos stems from a late-night press briefing in which she claimed to have hired an assassin to kill the president and members of his family should he have her cut down first.
Analysts have warned that Duterte’s presidential announcement will weigh heavily on lawmakers forced to gauge the repercussions of a vote against someone who may yet hold the country’s highest office.
While she later said the comments were misinterpreted, lawmaker Gerville Luistro said Wednesday that the alleged threats could destabilize institutions.
“They carry weight. They create fear,” she said.
Duterte and Marcos have been engaged in a high-stakes political brawl that erupted within weeks of their 2022 win in the presidential election, when the vice president was denied her favored cabinet portfolios and instead named education secretary.
The justice committee last month tossed out a pair of impeachment complaints against Marcos, ruling that allegations of corruption over a scandal involving bogus flood control projects lacked substance.
The daughter of former president Rodrigo Duterte, who in February announced a 2028 presidential bid, was impeached last year, only for the Supreme Court to toss the case out over procedural issues.
Under the Philippine constitution, an impeachment by the House of Representatives triggers a Senate trial, where a guilty verdict would ban Duterte from elected office for life.
The new complaints, ruled “sufficient in substance” by a vote of 54-1 on Wednesday, accuse her of graft and corruption while in office and of making a death threat against former ally President Ferdinand Marcos.
She will now have 10 days to respond before the start of a hearing of probable cause necessary to move the complaints to a House vote.
“Our vote today is not a verdict of guilt nor an act of condemnation. It’s simply a decision on whether the constitutional process should move forward,” Representative Ferdinand Hernandez said minutes before the vote.
The vice president’s legal team said Wednesday they would not comment on specific allegations.
“For now, we will refrain from discussing the substance of the case in the media and will instead address these matters through the proper constitutional processes,” lawyer Michael Poa said in a statement.
The alleged death threat against Marcos stems from a late-night press briefing in which she claimed to have hired an assassin to kill the president and members of his family should he have her cut down first.
Analysts have warned that Duterte’s presidential announcement will weigh heavily on lawmakers forced to gauge the repercussions of a vote against someone who may yet hold the country’s highest office.
While she later said the comments were misinterpreted, lawmaker Gerville Luistro said Wednesday that the alleged threats could destabilize institutions.
“They carry weight. They create fear,” she said.
Duterte and Marcos have been engaged in a high-stakes political brawl that erupted within weeks of their 2022 win in the presidential election, when the vice president was denied her favored cabinet portfolios and instead named education secretary.
The justice committee last month tossed out a pair of impeachment complaints against Marcos, ruling that allegations of corruption over a scandal involving bogus flood control projects lacked substance.
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