Putin indicates Russia could return to nuclear testing

MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin while speaking at a meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club, suggested that Russia could return to nuclear weapons testing and might withdraw from the nuclear test ban treaty, reported Al Jazeera.

Putin on Thursday spoke about concerns regarding nuclear weapons, energy and the war in Ukraine.

Russian President said that it was "theoretically" possible for Russia to withdraw from the nuclear test ban treaty, pointing out that it generally prohibits the testing of nuclear weapons, but that no decision has been made yet, Al Jazeera reported.

He further highlighted that Russia has tested a new nuclear-powered missile delivery system but had not decided whether to resume explosives testing, Al Jazeera reported.

"I think no person of sound mind and clear memory would think of using nuclear weapons against Russia," Putin said in his speech at a foreign policy forum experts in Sochi.

"I hear calls to start testing nuclear weapons, to return to testing," he added. "I am not ready to say whether we really need to conduct tests or not."

He later announced that Russia has effectively completed the development of the Burevestnik cruise missile and the Sarmat heavy intercontinental ballistic missile. Moreover, he said that he would work on putting them into production.

"We conducted the last successful test of the Burevestnik nuclear-powered global-range cruise missile," he said. It was the first announcement of a successful test of the Burevestnik and is translated as "Storm Petrel.

Burevestnik was code-named Skyfall by NATO and many Western experts have been sceptical about it, stating that a nuclear engine could be highly unreliable, reported Al Jazeera.

Putin highlighted the country's nuclear capabilities in his speech, as relations between Russia and Western powers remain tense over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

On February 24, 2022, Russia send troops into Ukraine in an escalation of the Russia-Ukrainian War which began in 2014. The 'invasion' killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been accused of mass civilian casualties and of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers, reported Al Jazeera.

Since then, thousands of civilians have been killed and millions of others have fled the country, according to the United Nations.

On Thursday, a Russian missile strike resulted in the deaths of at least 50 people in a village near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, marking one of the most devastating attacks on civilians since the conflict's onset.

Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that Moscow's forces targeted a cafe and a shop in Hroza, located in the Kharkiv region, just after midday local time.

Putin also reiterated Russia's opposition to Ukraine's accession to NATO, which he considered as a tool of US foreign policy, according to Al Jazeera. However, he said that he has no objections to Ukraine joining the European Union.