MOSCOW: The Kremlin said on Wednesday that neither Russia nor China had carried out secret nuclear tests, after the United States accused Beijing of conducting a secret test in 2020.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected the allegations and said both Moscow and Beijing had denied the claims.
“We’ve heard many references to certain tests. Both the Russian Federation and China have been mentioned in this regard,” Peskov told reporters.
“Neither the Russian Federation nor China has conducted any nuclear tests,” he said, according to Russia’s state news agency Tass.
He added that Chinese representatives had “categorically denied” the accusations.
US allegations
The United States earlier this month accused China of conducting a secret nuclear test in 2020.
Washington raised the allegation as it called for a new and broader arms control agreement that would include China alongside Russia.
US President Donald Trump has been pressing Beijing to join negotiations with Washington and Moscow on a replacement for the New START treaty, the last remaining US-Russian nuclear arms control pact.
New START expired on February 5.
The end of the treaty has heightened debate among arms control experts.
Beijing rejects allegations
China has also firmly rejected the US accusations.
Last week, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the United States “has no factual ground at all” for its claims.
“The US has kept distorting and vilifying China’s nuclear policy as part of its political manipulation to seek nuclear hegemony,” Lin told reporters in Beijing.
