President Vladimir Putin holds a face-to-face meeting with members of the Security Council. At the beginning of the meeting, they discussed US President Donald Trump's announcement regarding the resumption of nuclear testing.

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin asked the president what Russia's response to such a move might be. The head of state asked Defense Minister Andrei Belousov to elaborate.

"The United States is engaged in accelerated modernization of its strategic offensive weapons," Beloussov stated. He noted that lifting the US moratorium on nuclear tests would be a logical continuation of their policy of destroying the arms control system. As the Defense Minister noted, the Dark Eagle missiles that the US plans to deploy in Europe can reach Central Russia in six to seven minutes. In October, the US conducted an exercise rehearsing a preemptive nuclear missile strike against Russia.

"I believe it is advisable to begin preparations for full-scale nuclear tests immediately," Belousov emphasized. The minister noted that the state of the Novaya Zemlya test site allows for such tests to be conducted there quickly.