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The meeting was attended by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko, Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, Deputy Chairman of the Security Council Dmitry Medvedev, Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Anton Vaino, Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu, Defence Minister Andrei Belousov, Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov, Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin, Special Presidential Representative for Environmental Protection, Ecology, and Transport Sergei Ivanov, Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin, Director of the Federal Service of National Guard Troops Viktor Zolotov, and Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov.

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President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Good afternoon, colleagues.

As you are aware, our Government delegation has just returned from a trip to the People’s Republic of China. Mr Mishustin briefed me in detail about the results of this work. I believe it was very timely, substantive, and useful. After we are done reviewing the main issues, I would like Mr Mishustin to brief all our colleagues on the outcomes of his travel to China.

Transport security is our main issue today. The speaker is Transport Minister Andrei Nikitin.

Chairman of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin: Mr President, I have an off-the-agenda question. May I?

Vladimir Putin: Yes, please.

Vladimir Volodin: Considering that Trump recently stated that the United States was resuming nuclear weapons testing, the deputies have questions and are concerned about the situation overall, because this could push the world we all know where.

Since you made it clear two years ago that if the United States was to resume nuclear weapons testing, Russia would be entitled to do the same. Could you provide more clarity on this issue, which virtually every deputy is concerned about? They would like to know what kind of steps and actions we are going to take, since this is an extremely important matter, all the more so as the US President has brought it up.

Vladimir Putin: Indeed, this is a serious matter. Let’s hear what our colleagues have to say about it.

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov has the floor. Please, go ahead.

Defence Minister Andrei Belousov: Mr President, colleagues,

Of course, we must focus not only – and not so much – on the statements and declarations made by politicians and American officials, but above all on the actions of the United States. These actions clearly demonstrate Washington’s ongoing and active build-up of strategic offensive weapons.

First, the White House has consistently withdrawn from long-standing arms control and limitation treaties: the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty in 2019, and the Open Skies Treaty in 2020. Therefore, the US’s possible withdrawal from the moratorium on nuclear weapons testing would be Washington’s completely logical step toward undermining the global system of strategic stability.

Second, the United States is rapidly modernising its strategic offensive weapons. Work is underway there to develop the Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missile, equipped with a new nuclear warhead and a range of 13,000 kilometres. The prospective Columbia-class strategic nuclear submarine is being built to replace the Ohio-class. The new B-21 Raider heavy strategic bomber is in development, as well as a cruise missile with a nuclear warhead, and so on. Furthermore, 56 launchers on 14 Ohio-class submarines are planned to be reactivated – I emphasise, reactivated – and fully reloaded with Trident II ballistic missiles. Preparations are also underway to reconfigure 30 B-52H strategic bombers to once again carry nuclear weapons.

Third, the United States has begun implementing the Golden Dome programme, which provides for both missile interception and pre-launch destruction of Russian and Chinese missiles.

Fourth, by the end of this year, the US Army plans to adopt the new Dark Eagle medium-range missile system, armed with hypersonic missiles with a range of 5,500 kilometres. The system is expected to be deployed in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The flight time from Germany, where this system is to be deployed, to targets in central Russia would be approximately six to seven minutes.

Fifth, Washington regularly conducts exercises involving its strategic offensive forces. The most recent, Global Thunder 2025, took place in October of this year. Let me emphasise that these exercises were focused on scenarios involving pre-emptive nuclear missile strikes against Russian territory.

In essence, this constitutes a unified strategy that includes, among other things, potential US plans for nuclear weapons testing, thereby significantly raising the level of military threat to Russia.

It is therefore imperative to maintain our nuclear forces at a level of readiness sufficient to inflict unacceptable damage under any circumstances, and to respond appropriately to Washington’s actions in order to safeguard national security.

In view of the above, I believe it is advisable to begin preparations for full-scale nuclear tests immediately. The operational capability at the Central Test Site on the Novaya Zemlya archipelago allows for the rapid initiation of test preparations.

Vladimir Putin: Thank you. I had already invited the Chief of the General Staff to speak on the main topic. Now that this new question has come up, I would like to ask him to address it as well. Mr Gerasimov, please.

Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov: Comrade Supreme Commander-in-Chief,

The absence of an official explanation from the American side regarding President Trump’s statement on resuming nuclear testing offers no assurance that the United States will not soon begin preparing for, and then conduct, nuclear tests.

The American side may continue to evade providing official explanations, but this is immaterial. If we do not take appropriate measures now, we will lose the ability to respond in a timely manner to US actions, given that preparing for nuclear tests, depending on their type, can take anywhere from several months to several years.

We are aware of statements by a number of high-ranking US officials regarding the resumption of nuclear tests, and our analysis of these statements indicates Washington’s intent to prepare for and conduct such tests.

Vladimir Putin: Regarding the explanations issue, many of our colleagues have received notifications from our ambassador in Washington via the Foreign Ministry.

Mr Naryshkin, do you have it?

Director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Sergei Naryshkin: Yes, Mr President, several days ago, a telegram was received from Russian Ambassador to the United States Alexander Darchiyev, in which he reports that our diplomats have contacted the staff of the United States National Security Council and the United States Department of State to clarify the substance of the controversial remarks made by President of the United States of America Donald Trump.

Our diplomats inquired as to the specific meaning of the statement made the previous day regarding the instructions issued by the United States leader to the Pentagon concerning the immediate commencement to nuclear weapons testing, and requested clarifications from the NSC and the State Department. In response, representatives from both the White House and the US Department of State declined to provide a substantive reaction, assuring that they would relay the information “up the chain” and contact the Russian side if it were deemed necessary to provide explanations on the substance of the questions raised by Russian diplomats.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Shoigu, I am aware that the Security Council has also addressed this issue and analysed developments in this regard within the United States’ own ruling circles, as we commonly refer to them. Do you have anything to add on this matter?

Secretary of the Security Council Sergei Shoigu: Yes, Mr President, certainly.

Both prior to and following our ambassador’s note, a series of statements have been made, all primarily directed towards a single objective. Following the statement made by the President of the United States on November 3, a lengthy interview with him was published, in which he stated on several occasions that the United States would resume nuclear weapons testing, while accusing both Russia and China of conducting such tests and trials.

Following him or preceding him, Secretary of Defence Hegseth has already reported that the Pentagon is swiftly executing American President’s instruction to resume nuclear weapons testing. Subsequently, US Vice President J.D. Vance remarked that sometimes the nuclear arsenal needs to be tested to ensure its proper function. This sentiment was echoed by Speaker of the House of Representatives Mike Johnson, who asserts that the resumption of testing constitutes a necessary demonstration of strength to maintain peace and to deter Russia and China.

Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, who is in charge of nuclear testing in the United States, made it clear that the testing would involve new systems, not nuclear explosions. In turn, Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Tom Cotton noted that the issue was not about major tests with mushroom clouds to be held in a desert or the South Pacific, but rather small, controlled underground explosions, which essentially constitute nuclear weapons tests. This would allow the United States – and I quote – to test systems that are already in service and advanced nuclear weapons as well.

We analysed these statements, but we are not entirely clear about the United States’ future plans and steps regarding nuclear weapons testing.

Vladimir Putin: Mr Bortnikov, your service primarily deals with countering foreign intelligence agencies in Russia, but a portion of your work focuses on intelligence agencies’ activities abroad.

What do you think about this?

Director of the Federal Security Service Alexander Bortnikov: Mr President, the situation is fairly complex. I agree that it must be taken seriously, but I believe many questions need to be answered before we can come up with a specific decision.

In this regard, please give us some time so that we can dive deeper into this matter and draft proposals on this matter.

Vladimir Putin: Good.

I took note of some of your remarks and opinions and I would like to note that Russia has always strictly adhered to its obligations under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, and we do not plan to abandon these obligations.

At the same time, indeed, in my 2023 Address to the Federal Assembly, I said that if the United States or any other state party to the Treaty was to conduct such tests, Russia would be under obligation to take reciprocal measures.

In this regard, I instruct the Foreign Ministry, the Defence Ministry, the special services, and the corresponding civilian agencies to do everything possible to gather additional information on this matter, have it analysed by the Security Council, and submit coordinated proposals on the possible first steps focusing on preparations for nuclear weapons tests.

Let’s use this approach as a basis. I look forward to getting your report.

Let us turn to the main item on the agenda now.

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