Kremlin Confirms Russia Will Not Leave Nuclear Test Moratorium, Rejects Testing In Siberia

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. (Wikimedia Commons/Presidential Executive Office of Russia)

JAKARTA - The Kremlin said on Tuesday Russia would not leave a moratorium on nuclear trials, rejecting the advice of state television editors on testing thermonuclear devices in Siberia as a warning to the West.

President Vladimir Putin, who has the world's largest nuclear power, has repeatedly warned the West that any attack on Russia could trigger a nuclear response.

The Kremlin said it did not leave the moratorium when asked aboutAN Simonyan's statement, editor-in-chief of a government-funded broadcaster, RT, suggesting Russia detonate a nuclear bomb in Siberia.

"Currently, we have not left the nuclear trial moratorium," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"I don't think such discussions are possible right now from an official point of view," Peskov said, adding that Simonyan's words did not "always" reflect Moscow's official position.

Earlier, Simonyan said Ukraine's crisis was moving towards a nuclear ultimatum, while the West would not stop until Russia sent a nuclear message.

"The nuclear Ultimatum is getting closer and more and more impossible to avoid," said Simonyan.

"They will not back down unless it hurts them," he said.

He quipped that such explosions would make electronic devices useless, making it easier to explain to their children why they are not allowed to own devices like the iPad.

Nuclear rhetoric from Russian state televisions became felt late last year, but calmer during the first half of this year.

It is known that the last nuclear test of the Soviet Union was carried out in 1990. The last nuclear tests of the United States occurred in 1992 and France and China conducted their last nuclear test in 1996, according to the United Nations.