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).
Russia says recent weapons tests ‘not nuclear’ after Trump orders US tests
https://arab.news/6snda
Russia says recent weapons tests ‘not nuclear’ after Trump orders US tests
Macron vows stronger cooperation with Nigeria after mass kidnappings
- Macron wrote on X that France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations”
PARIS: French President Emmanuel Macron said Sunday that France will step up cooperation with Nigeria after speaking with his counterpart, as the West African country faces a surge in abductions.
Nigeria has been wracked by a wave of kidnappings in recent weeks, including the capture of over 300 school children two weeks ago that shook Africa’s most populous country, already weary from chronic violence.
Macron wrote on X that the move came at Nigerian President Bola Tinubu’s request, saying France “will strengthen our partnership with the authorities and our support for the affected populations,” while urging other countries to “step up their engagement.”
“No one can remain a spectator” to what is happening in Nigeria, the French president said.
Nigeria has drawn heightened attention from Washington in recent weeks, after US President Donald Trump said in November that the United States was prepared to take military action there to counter the killing of Christians.
US officials, while not contradicting Trump, have since instead emphasized other US actions on Nigeria including security cooperation with the government and the prospect of targeted sanctions.
Kidnappings for ransom by armed groups have plagued Nigeria since the 2014 abduction of 276 school girls in the town of Chibok by Boko Haram militants.
The religiously diverse country is the scene of a number of long-brewing conflicts that have killed both Christians and Muslims, often indiscriminately.
Many scholars say the reality is more nuanced, with conflicts rooted in struggles for scarce resources rather than directly related to religion.
