Washington: US President Donald Trump has accused nuclear-armed countries, including Russia and China, of conducting undisclosed underground nuclear tests. The accusations came during an interview on CBS, where Trump discussed his recent directive to the Pentagon to resume US nuclear testing.

According to National Iraqi News Agency, Trump responded to a question about his surprise order issued Thursday, stating, “Russia is doing tests, China is doing tests, but they don’t talk about them.” He expressed concerns about the secrecy of these tests, saying, “Nobody necessarily knows where they’re doing the tests… They’re doing them underground, where people don’t know what’s going on with those tests.”

On Thursday, Trump articulated that due to these alleged testing programs by other countries, he instructed the Department of Defense to initiate testing of US nuclear weapons to maintain parity. He emphasized that Washington’s main rivals, particularly China and Russia, “are all apparently conducting nuclear te
sts.”

In response, Beijing has urged the United States to “seriously adhere to its commitments under the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty,” while Moscow has asserted that its recent test of its latest nuclear-powered cruise missile did not qualify as a nuclear test.