US President Donald Trump on Thursday announced that he had directed the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing at a scale comparable to China and Russia.
The surprise declaration came just minutes before Trump began a high-stakes summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping, where security and arms control were expected to top the agenda.
Trump said the move was aimed at ensuring that the United States maintains โstrategic parityโ with its global rivals.โWe will not allow any nation to outpace us in nuclear capability,โ he told reporters ahead of the meeting.
The announcement is likely to raise tensions with Beijing and Moscow, both of whom have warned against a new global arms race.Details of the proposed tests and their timeline have not yet been disclosed.