Russia concerned about U.S. media reports encouraging resumption of nuclear tests: spokesperson

Russia is worried by publications in U.S. media that Washington needs to resume nuclear tests, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a weekly briefing Thursday.

"The emergence of such publications obviously should be viewed as preparing the U.S. public for the idea that nuclear tests are an inevitable necessity. Without them, the U.S. national security could be in danger," Zakharova said.

"This logic corresponds to the course taken by Washington to gradually recreate conditions for a possible resumption of nuclear tests," she said.

Such actions reduce confidence that the United States will continue to comply with a moratorium on nuclear testing since 1992, she added.

This line opens a direct path to unleashing a new round of nuclear arms race, Zakharova warned.

In 1991, after Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev announced a unilateral nuclear test moratorium, legislation was introduced in the U.S. Congress for a reciprocal move.

The legislation, which became law in 1992, mandated a 9-month suspension on nuclear weapon test explosions. In 1993, President Bill Clinton decided to extend the moratorium.