Kremlin says neither China nor Russia has carried out secret nuclear tests
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Neither the Russian Federation nor China has conducted any nuclear tests, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
PHOTO: REUTERS
MOSCOW – The Kremlin said on Feb 18 that neither China nor Russia had carried out secret nuclear tests, noting that Beijing had denied US accusations that it had done so.
The US in February accused China of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020 as it called for a new, broader arms control treaty that would bring in China as well as Russia.
“We’ve heard many references to certain tests. Both the Russian Federation and China have been mentioned in this regard. Neither the Russian Federation nor China has conducted any nuclear tests,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
“We also know that these allegations were categorically denied by a representative of the People’s Republic of China, so that’s the situation,” he added.
US President Donald Trump is pressing China to join the US and Russia in negotiating a replacement pact to New START, the last US-Russian nuclear arms control agreement, which expired on Feb 5.
The treaty’s expiration has fuelled concerns among some experts that the world is on the verge of an accelerated nuclear arms race, though other arms control experts say such fears are exaggerated. REUTERS
