The offer to allow international observers to witness sensitive US weapons-related tests, floated on the sidelines of an International Atomic Energy Agency meeting in Vienna this week, comes at a critical moment for arms control. Earlier this year, Vladimir Putin withdrew Russia from its last agreement with the US that limited nuclear arsenals and Pentagon officials are increasingly on edge about China’s expanding stockpile of fissile material.
“We’ve even offered mutual and reciprocal actions” to Russia and China, she said. “We’ve not gotten a response.”Analysts warned this month that satellite images of atomic-test sites in China, Russia and the US all showed signs of increased activity. Nuclear saber-rattling has increased in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, with Putin ordering his forces ready to resume testing on short notice in February.
China, Russia and the US all continue to abide by an international legal norm established under the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, whose organization runs a global network of sensors designed to detect a nuclear detonation.