Reference news quoted a Reuters report on October 2 that Russian President Vladimir Putin said on the 2nd that if another nuclear power conducts a nuclear test, Russia will also conduct a nuclear test. Earlier, he said that Moscow had seen signs that an unnamed country was preparing to conduct such tests.
At a meeting in southern Russia, Putinly reiterated his suggestion to the United States that if Washington takes the same action, he will voluntarily extend the ceiling on the number of nuclear warheads when a critical arms control treaty expires next year.
Putin said the dialogue with the United States remains complicated and said one of the factors that any new arms control negotiations should consider is Russia’s possession of a new type of missile – the “cyanide tree” missile.
Putin said Russia has confidence in its nuclear defense if the United States decides not to reach an agreement on extending the New START Treaty.
According to TASS news agency on October 2, Russian President Vladimir Putin, in a speech at the Valda International Debate Club meeting, noted that the level of modernization of Russian nuclear weapons is higher than any other country in the world.
Putin also said that "there are many issues to be clarified" in the dialogue with the United States on arms control.