(MENAFN) US Vice President J.D. Vance has stated that Washington’s resumption of nuclear weapons testing is necessary to confirm that the country’s arsenal remains operational.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump announced that he had ordered the Pentagon to begin nuclear tests, citing strategic competition with Russia and China. “That process will begin immediately” in response to what Trump described as other nations’ testing programs.

Vance told journalists that testing is a critical part of American national security to verify that the nuclear arsenal “actually functions properly.” He did not specify the type of tests that would be conducted. Republican Senator Tom Cotton clarified that the tests would involve “very small, controlled, probably underground detonations,” not large-scale explosions with mushroom clouds.

The announcement drew responses from global powers. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia would respond if the US abandoned its moratorium, adding that last week’s launch of Russia’s Burevestnik cruise missile—powered by a small nuclear reactor—was not a nuclear test. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun urged the US to uphold the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and maintain global strategic stability.

The US halted nuclear testing in 1992 under a Congressional moratorium. Russia’s last test occurred in 1990 during the Soviet era, and China’s most recent test was in 1996.

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